Friends in The Fellowship
by ShadowfaxRunner
Summary: Two best friends both are given tasks in Middle Earth, which they both must fulfill before the quest is finished. I'm going along with the movies because, although I have read and loved the books, my friend By who Rachel is based off of has only seen the films. Poor girl. I'll try not to confuse her. Introduction and then POV's from both views. Aragorn/OC and Legolas/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! I'm back (again). I hope you'll like this one...  
Rachel is based off my best friend (Who shall forever remain nameless….unless I convince her to get an account!) and Kat is based off me. And FYI, I actually can sing soprano with Brian Welch!**

**I don't own LOTR**

INTRODUCTION: ARAGORN'S POV

I walk into the hall in Rivendell where I have been summoned by Lord Elrond. The hobbits and I made it safely to Rivendell, and I hear that Frodo is recovering well from the wound that he received on the tower of Amon Sul. But I have not seen my love, Arwen.

Elrond approaches me…I think he is crying. I have never seen him show emotion around me. Something terrible must have happened.

No.

It couldn't be…

Arwen.

I feel my mouth drop open and I shake my head. Elrond drops his head.

His voice quavers as he whispers, "My sons came just in time…Elladan took Frodo, and Elrohir stayed with Arwen…but it was too late for her. Her wounds were too deep…Her spirit has gone on to the Undying Lands."

Every fiber in my being feels destroyed. The woman I have loved for years is gone…and I couldn't save her. I shouldn't have let her go; I should have taken her horse and brought Frodo to Rivendell myself.

"I should have saved her…"

"No," Elrond says, "Not even the power of the elves could have saved my daughter." He pulls himself together and appears once again as the cold emotionless elf I remember. He begins again, "I suspect you will aid whoever decides to take the ring to Mordor."

I try to pull myself together, but I still hear my voice crack as I reply, "Of course, milord."

"Good. Two people were pulled in from another world by my mother-in-law, Galadriel, and will be joining you on your journey. One of them will comfort you…one of them is only there to help destroy the ring."

"Milord, I don't believe—"

"Don't question me Aragorn! I know that you are in pain. Allow this person to help you."

I nod, angry that my voice will not be heard. I leave the room and run to the place where I know no one will follow me: My mother's grave. I fall, face first onto the dirt, and weep. I weep for my mother, for Arwen, for Frodo, for every man woman and child that will die if the Ring is no destroyed.

There, as I weep is where I submit to exhaustion and sleep.

RACHEL'S POV:

Bored. Bored, bored, bored. I stare at the computer screen. I'm supposed to be writing a stupid essay on the stupid topic of stupid lima beans. I don't even know why I need to learn this crud in vet school! I think that after all this time and effort I deserve a break. I'm sure I've been working for at least an hour, so I grab my purse and decide to IM my best friend, Kat, who goes to this college with me (She wants to be a nurse) to see if she wants to go shopping. I glance at the clock. 2:07. I've been working for seven minutes. Seven pathetic minutes. Heck with this! I pull up our private chat room, Vet&Nurse.

VetInTraining: Hey K. Want 2 shop?

PunkNurse: Where?

VetInTraining: Zale's is having a sale on pearls.

PunkNurse: PEARLS? R U FREAKIN KIDDING ME?

VetInTraining: Don't have a heart attack! JK I'll go 2 Zale's, U go 2 Hot Topic.

PunkNurse: Food?

VetInTraining: I'll buy Auntie Ann's :D

PunkNurse: B UR house in 5

It's hardly three minutes before Kat bursts in without knocking, scaring the heck out of my roommate, Becky.

"You said Hot Topic and Auntie Ann's. I'm so in."

"Zale's needs to start selling Goth jewelry."

"Hot Topic should sell pearls."

Becky butts in, "Then you both could shop in the same store instead of just meeting so Rachel can buy you pretzels!"

"Hey, free food is fine with me." Kat snaps. She doesn't like Becky too much.

Becky hates us. I swear, she thinks she was put on this planet to make our lives miserable. Me and Kat met online, then found out that we go to the same college. We've been best friends ever since.

"Whatever, Becky," I snap, and Kat and I walk towards her car, it's a '93 silver Ford Escort named Barbara Ann. I never thought I would meet a punk who is obsessed with the Beach Boys.

"Why the heck do you put up with her?" Kat almost yells.

"I don't know, it's not like I can just pack up and move."

"You could move in with me," Kat elbows me and winks.

"You live in a garage/band room. You and your punk band make too much noise." She's the lead singer/bass player in a rock band called _Fire&Ice_.

She starts the car, "Hey, Mack lets me stay in his parents garage for free, it's heaven!"

"You really should go out with him."

"MACK? Heck no! He plays drums!"

"So?"

"I prefer bass players."

"You're the bass player!"

"And I never get in fights with myself either!"

"You're so weird."

"Whatever. Hey, pop in the CD that's in the glove box."

I pull out a CD that has _Fire&Ice: Covers_ written on it in flames. "Wait, since when did you get a player in your car?"

"Mack got it for my birthday."

"Seriously, date him!"

"Seriously, no!"

"Covers?" I change the subject.

"Yeah, we didn't want to mess up any of our originals, and we needed some technology practice with Jake's machines."

I pop the CD in and flip over the case to read the titles. "Chasm by Flyleaf, Hero by Skillet, Draw the Line by Disciple, Frontline by Pillar, Washed by Blood by Brian "Head" Welch. That's it?"

"It's an EP."

"A what?"

"EP: Extended Play. A disc with more than one song and less than eight."

"Who's Brian "Head" Welch?"

"How the heck are we friends? Skip to track five."

I skip the songs and then my eardrums are blasted by a screeching guitar (Jake) a thumping bass (Kat) heavy percussion (Mack) and eerie notes on the Casio (Amber). Then Jake starts singing, and I can't understand a word of it. The chorus comes in with heavy screamo and Kat's high soprano singing backup.

Kat starts to sing, "Washed by blood! From deep inside! You're not a prisoner of your old life! A brand new—"

"KAT!" I scream as a deer leaps in front of our car. She jerks the wheel and we fly into the ditch. The last thing I remember is Kat's terrified screams as Barbara Ann flips.

**Yeah, so there we go! And in case you actually care my car really is named Barbara Ann after the Beach Boys! Review Please! I'll email your reviews to *Rachel*, unless they're full of language or something equally disturbing…like chocolate covered dirt…**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: Hello, it's Fax again, and Rachel is skypeing with me again (We do this a lot) say hi, Rachel**

**Rachel: Hello, all you wonderful readers.**

**Me: Flattering them to get more reviews…sneaky Rachel. I've taught you well.**

**Rachel: Nuh-uh! Just being nice!**

**Me: Do the disclaimer.**

**Rachel: The what?**

**Me: We don't own LotR, Tolkien does.**

**Rachel: Oh! That disclaimer!**

**Me: *facepalm***

KAT'S POV:

I wake up on the ground. I probably shot out of the car. Which is weird, because I was wearing my seatbelt. I sit up and groan. My muscles ache. Which is so weird, this shouldn't hurt. For Pete's sake I bounce around a stage every Friday night at Mack's dad's restaurant.

I stand up and check myself. Holy crud muffins I'm wearing a friggin dress. Not a punk-rocker dress, but a Star Wars-y girly girl dress. Something Rachel would like.

I growl and start to walk off. Wait, how the heck did I get into this stupid dress? This must be a prank from Becky. I'm on the out skirts of a forest so I walk away from the trees. If there's a town nearby, it's probably not in the middle of a forest.

Just then I hear a voice speaking in a weird language.

"Pardon?" I say.

A man rides towards me on a gorgeous white stallion and speaks again in the weird language.

"Dude, I don't know who the heck you think I am, but I don't speak Chinese or French or German or whatever that was."

"The common tongue, perhaps?" He asks.

"Sure."

"May I ask your name, milady?"

"Me what?"

"Milady. Do not the men of your region respect an elf of your status?"

"Elf?"

"Yes."

I touch my ears. "Oh. My. Gummy bears!"

"Gummy bears?"

"Oh for the love of everything made of chocolate, where am I and why do I have pointy ears and what is so special about my status?"

"You are in Mirkwood milady. You have pointed ears because you are an elf. Your necklace signifies one of great status. Only the most powerful elves, or the ones who are pulled into Middle Earth from another world where these gems."

I look at my necklace. It's some sort of blue gem, like Rachel's Lapis Lazuli ring. "'K. Who are you?"

"I am Legolas Thranduilion. And you are?"

"Kat."

"Simple name for an elf. Where do you hail from?"

"Uh, from Mack's garage at NYU."

"Welcome to Mirkwood, Kat of Mack's Garage of NYU."

"If you call me that every time you speak my name it will get really old. Just call me Kat."

"Of course, milady."

"So, what do I do now?"

"Do you know how to fight?"

"I took Debate 109 last semester, does that count?"

"Fighting with a bow, blades, and knives, not with words, milady."

"Seriously, I will hurt you if you keep calling me 'milady'. My name is Kat. And I can shoot a bow. Wait, are you talking compound bow or recurve bow?"

"Compound bow? Recurve bow?"

"Yeah, you know, a compound bow. It has sights, lineups, pulleys. A recurve is just a fancy name for a long bow."

"Elves shoot a long bow."

"Crud. I shoot a compound."

"This may be more difficult than I thought."

"How so?"

"Come, I will show you." Legolas holds out his hand for me and I scramble into the saddle with him. He trots off into the forest and we ride past a bunch of elves who just stare at me like I just murdered somebody. Did I do something wrong? Great, first five minutes in Middle Earth and I already have a rap sheet.

When we stop we're in a clearing with targets and some recurve bows and arrows. Legolas dismounts and helps me down and leads me over to the bows.

"Pick one," he says.

I grab a bow and get into the stance I learned with my compound. He chuckles.

"What?"

"Here, let me help you." He pulls my right leg back a little farther and adjusts my hips (Awkward!) and says, "Fire."

I string an arrow and automatically feel the stiffness of the string. I pull back as hard as I can, just barely bringing my thumb back to my mouth. When I loose the arrow I know the shot is crap. It hits the outer ring of the bull.

"Dang," I mutter, and string another arrow. It's a good two hours before I get a feel for the bow and arrows. I'm hitting the bull pretty consistently when an elf walks up and speaks in the weird language with Legolas.

I barely make out my name in their rapid conversation. Finally the elf walks away and Legolas looks at me, "I am sorry I am unable to attend to your needs. I am riding off to Rivendell to attend the council of Elrond. If you would like, I could acquire a spare horse for you and you could go with me. Perhaps Lord Elrond can find a way to get you back to Mack's Garage Of NYU."

"Only one problem with your plan."

"Oh?"

"I can't ride."

"Then you shall have to ride double with me." Legolas reaches down to take my hand.

"Right," I grab his hand and he swings me into the saddle. He kicks his horse into a gallop. Unfortunately, my first instinct is to grab him to keep steady. I'm gripping his tunic like there is no tomorrow.

"Relax," he whispers, taking my hands and sliding them around his waist. I hold tight as we ride off.

Middle Earth is officially beautiful. Trees are huge and looming so the sunlight comes in green. Legolas is telling me all the different places we're riding through. I got so lost after some place called Gladden Fields.

RACHELS POV

I open my eyes and find myself on my back. The sky is a cream white with gold trim. _Wait a minute._ I slowly rise and my head begins to throb. It hurt so bad I just lay back down. _What exactly happened? _I try getting up again, this time being able to sit up.

"See Kat, nothing good ever happens when you listen to screamo music." I groan. But Kat wasn't there. _Or anywhere for that matter._

"Kat?" I say.

All of a sudden, a very tall person comes in. And if my eyes are correct, his ears are pointed. He looks me over and begins to speak, "Ah, you are awake. Welcome to Rivendell, Lady…"

"Um…Hi, I'm Rachel." I reply. I can't help but stare at him and wonder where he came and, more precisely, where I am.

"I am Elladan. My father will see you in just a short time." He says.

I look down and try to collect my thoughts. I look back up at him and reply, "Could you tell me where I am?"

"You are in Rivendell." He says.

"Is that a bed and breakfast?"

"No, milady it is elvish country. You are in Middle Earth."

"Where is that?"

"Right here." He says, pointing to a map on the wall. He sounds a little confused and possibly annoyed.

I squint at the hand-drawn map and think a moment. "Am I still in the United States?"

He looks at me puzzled. "I should think not, considering that you are in Middle Earth." He sounds as if he were talking to a monkey. _How long have I been out of it?_

"How did I get here? " I ask.

"Elladan," Comes a voice from the hall outside.

He pauses and looks around and I see another tall figure standing at the doorway. Turning to me, he says, "My father will see you now." Then Elladan turns and leaves.

The tall figure comes into the room. He looks a lot like the other guy I just talked to. _Looks like he has pointy ears too. _He looks at me and says, "Welcome to Rivendell. I trust you had a favorable rest. I am Elrond, leader of the Elves." _Did he just say Elves? But wait, Elves aren't real?!_

He continues, "We were not expecting a women to come, but I think you will be successful in accomplishing the job that is required of you."

"Wait a minute. You don't even know me! I don't know what I'm doing here! I don't even how I got here! There needs to be more of an explanation before I leave this room."

Elrond takes in a deep breath and relaxes. He begins again, "You are going to take a journey to another part of Middle Earth. Before you can begin, you must have some training. I have someone ready to train as soon as you are willing."

I think for a moment. I seriously ponder smacking myself a bunch of times to prove that this is a dream. But I think I've suffered enough with my head. _I have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. I might as well cooperate. Who knows what they'll do. _

**Me: Review please!**

**Rachel: We're begging you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Hi! We're back! Me and Rachel are skypeing again and—**

**Rachel: You know, I just noticed how much we skype.**

**Me: It's cuz we have no life Rachel.**

**Rachel: Right. Can I do the disclaimer?**

**Me: Sure.**

**Rachel: Ahem. We the people of the United States of Fanfiction hereby declare that we, in and of ourselves, in no way own, or have the rights to any part of Lord of the Rings or the characters thereof, with the exception of those we create ourselves. Therefore, I, Rachel Randomperson and my best friend, Fax Whatsherface hereby denounce any illegal reselling, copying, plagiarism, etc of this fanfiction. *pause* How was that?**

**Me: Wow. It was great…if you're revising the freaking constitution. In simpler terms, we don't own LOTR.**

Rachel's POV

Elrond begins explaining to me how there is an evil eye in another part of Middle Earth that is controlling this Ring and that we all must do something about it. He was beginning to get more in-depth, when a man with medium width hair and a handsome face bursts through the doors of the room. I stare at him for a moment without a word. _Why doesn't he have pointy ears? Could he be…normal?_

He too looks at me and then begins speaking, "Milord Elrond, I was told by Elladan that you were talking to the one from the other world. Is he ready to be trained?" he asks.

"_She,_" Elrond begins, "has just been informed about the training."

"_She, _Milord?"The man asks. He starts speaking in another language I can't recognize and then Elrond begins conversing back and they have a two minute discussion that I cannot understand a word of. Then the man sighs and crosses his arms, looking a bit peeved. 

"I believe she is ready now to start." Elrond turns to me, "Wouldn't you agree, Rachel?"

"I guess. If that is what I'm here for." I say, a little uneasy.

"Alright, today you will start. Aragorn, please take her to the practice grounds and work with her for a little while. I have some matters to attend to." Elrond walks out of the room and I am left with this man named Aragorn with very dark clothing and a big sheath on his waist. _What strange clothes these people wear. _

I feel very awkward, not knowing what to say to him. Neither of us moves, so Aragorn starts, "Come, we have much work to accomplish." And he turns to walk out. I slide off my ever-so –soft bed and follow him. As we walk, he strutting at a fast speed, and I, trying to walk as fast as my nervous legs can go, notice something very peculiar. _Is he wearing a cape?_ Then I stop and notice my own clothing. I'm wearing a faded red dress with long sleeves. The hem flows freely and extensively, almost touching the marble floor. I notice too that I am wearing a brown leather belt with a solid brass buckle that has a flowery design. _If there is one good thing about being here, it's that I am wearing the most awesome dress ever! _Apparently Aragorn notices me admiring myself in my attire, and clears his throat to get my attention. I look up and he nods for me to come over to him. I rush over and turn a corner that leads to an outdoor clearing. I see many weapons and four targets. I couldn't help but notice all the lovely trees and the waterfall in the distance. Aragorn once again snaps me back to reality, "Could we begin, please?" He says impatiently. I nod, unsure of what he plans for me to do. He picks up a knife and we begin our lesson.

"Alright, we'll start with the knives. Are you familiar with using them?" He asks.

"No." I reply while shaking my head.

"I thought not. I will demonstrate what you must do."

I pick up a knife and inspect it. _This goes far beyond my coordination. How the heck am I supposed to use this?_ Aragorn goes to the first target. "Throwing a knife takes careful precision and accuracy." He stands with his feet and legs apart. He holds the handle of the knife and raises his arm back above his head. He flings it forward and it hits right in the middle. He throws another one and it hits right next the first. He turns to me and nods, now it being my turn. I come to the second target and go into the proper stance and position of my arm as he did. I raise my arm back and throw the knife. It hits the second to outer ring of the target. "Bring your arm back more and put the knife on an angle." He suggests. I look at my not-so-great shot in disgust and try again. It hits the same ring. I throw seven more knives not getting anywhere near the bull's eye. Then we move to the bow and arrows.

"The bow is very important when you don't have sword. I suggest you pay attention carefully." He stands in front of the second target and takes an arrow out of a quiver and stands with his legs apart. "Now, the first thing you must do is stand with your legs and feet apart, one farther ahead than the other." He then raises the arrow to his bow and places the arrow's end in front of the string and raises it back. "Raise the bow like this. Be sure to bend your arm a little." He stood a moment and released the arrow. It hit 3 centimeters away from the bull's-eye. "Now you try."

I pick up the bow and an arrow and go to the first target, nearly copying his position. He gives a look and walks over to me. He takes my left foot and brings it behind me. He then wraps his arms around mine and lifts my elbow higher and pulls my arm back more while his right hand is holding mine that holds the bow. I look at what he is doing and notice that his arms are attached to mine.

"Relax, and breathe in." He says. I stand with my back against his chest, feeling his warm breath on my cheek. I do as he says, relaxing myself and taking in a large breath. "Fire." He whispered ever so slightly. I stand still and subdue. And then… I release. In a swift movement, it hits just outside of the bull's-eye_._ He pulls away and steps back. "Good. Shoot again." He says.

"Ok." I reply. I do the very same thing that I had just done, but without him there. I release another arrow that hits just the outside of the bull's-eye. I look at him for his approval. "Again" is all he says.

I release a total of 12 arrows before we move on to the sword. We both walk to a clear area that is completely flat and without grass. He gives me a heavy sword, which my arms have a hard time picking up. He takes out his own sword and we stand adjacent from each other. "For the sword, you must let your hands and arms move as one. Your wrists steer where you want the blade to attack." He demonstrates by thrashing the sword in fluid movements. I just stand there, wondering how I'm supposed to lift this thing in the air. "Now you try." He said.

I come forward a little and took in a breath. I lift the sword up with two-thirds of my strength and attempt to swing it in the air with the other third. Aragorn veers out of the way as I try to copy what he did. I got about two swings in before the sword almost comes crashing down onto the dirt ground. I can feel my face getting red with embarrassment and frustration.

All of a sudden, Elrond comes toward us from the same entrance Aragorn and I came from. "How is your progress coming?" He asked. I look down and then at his serious face.

"It's coming," is all I can say.

"She is going to need more training here. She won't make it through the tasks that will be given should something happen to her or anyone." Aragorn said critically. I can't say those words don't hurt, but they are true.

"Neither you or Rachel have time to continue. What little you have time to teach her will be suffice until later in time. She is capable, I know of that." Says Elrond, "Here, this should help with learning the sword." He shows us the long oak-carved box with a strange symbol on it. He opens it and in a silky blue cloth lies a sword in a black sheath with brass tips.

"Take it." Elrond says.

I look at him and then back at the sword. I pick it up from the box and gaze at the weapon. I grasp the leaf and vine handle and carefully remove the sword from its covering. It reveals itself as a beautiful long blade with the vines of the handle crawling onto the steel of the sword. There is an inscription that makes it look elegant, even though I can't understand what it read. It was unexpectedly lightweight and it gleamed as I tilted and out of the pathway of the sun. I look at Aragorn to see his reaction. All I can see is a face full of sadness and shock. "Milord…" he whispered in amazement. Then out of nowhere, he bursts out and speaks rapidly in the language that I shall never understand. The Elrond returns and they argue, which seems like the only way these two communicate.

"Do not test me Aragorn! I have too much to worry about now than letting a young girl use my daughter's sword!" He calmed down a bit and says, "It will do for her until she can have one made for herself." And he walks away. Aragorn composes himself and turns to me, "Begin."

"If you don't want me to use this, I won't." I say.

"I don't have a say in the matter and quite frankly we don't have time." He readies his sword.

I take a steady stance and move the blade in few swift movements. "Attack me." He says. I raise the sword up and swing it towards him. He blocks it and returns the same move with greater force than I had expected, but I'm able to block it and I twisted my wrist to form a parry. While doing this, we bit closer to each other; our faces are 3 inches away from each other. I almost run out of energy holding this pose when Aragorn breaks from it and swings his sword under my feet. I think fast enough to jump and we begin slicing at each other, he blocking all my shots and I just barley blocking and ducking from his. He finally catches my sword and twists it till it flings out of my hands, disarming me. He looks at me and then looks down at the sword. He picks it up and hands it back to me. "Be careful with it and keep it safe." He says rather forcefully. Then he walks to the entry of the palace and turns a corner and out of sight. I put the sword into its sheath and follow him as fast as I can.

KAT'S POV

Legolas and I reach Rivendell in one piece and a young elf meets us at the gate.

"_Quel amrun, Elrohir_," Legolas says. He's been teaching me the Elvish basics on the way here, I know that means good morning. I'm not sure who Elrohir is though.

"_Vedui, Legolas. Ya naa tenya_?" He responds looking at me.

Legolas answers him, "_Sina eh Kat_."

"_Vedui, Kat_," Elrohir says.

"Hi." I say.

Legolas smiles and says, "She does not speak fluent elvish."

"But she is an—"His eyes catch the gem at my neck, "Right this way to the council."

As we're walking through the halls I see someone really familiar, "Rachel?" I call. The girl whirls around. She hardly looks like the Rachel I know. She's decked out in weapons…I like it.

"Kat!" She screams, running towards me. We hug like it's been forever since we saw each other.

"This is Legolas," I say, "Legolas, this is my best friend Rachel."

"_Vedui, Rachel_," he says.

"Huh?" Rachel says.

"He says hi," I translate.

"Oh, hi."

"Do you too hail from Mack's Garage of NYU?"

"No," I say, before Rachel gets even more confused, "She's from Dorm Room 113."

"Weren't we supposed to be at some council thing?" Rachel says.

"Yes, this way," Legolas leads us toward the east wing of the building and then into the courtyard.

Rachel sits down by a dark haired man and Legolas leads me to a seat with some other elves. He quickly gives me the rundown of all the people, and I learn the difference between hobbits and dwarves (Aside from the beards) and who is from Gondor, and who the cute guy is with Rachel.

Just then an elf who looks a lot like Elrohir sits down in a chair.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo." He begins.

A young hobbit stands up and walks toward the cylinder table in the middle of the council. He places a simple gold ring on it.

Boromir whispers, "So it is true. I saw the Eastern sky grow dark, but in the west, a pale light lingered. The doom is near at hand," He stood and began walking toward the ring. "Isildur's bane is found. Isildur's bane."

"Boromir!" Shouts Elrond and an old wizard.

The wizard stands up and starts speaking in a language that turns the sky dark. Legolas stiffens next to me, and I can sense evil here.

"Never before has someone uttered the dark language of Mordor in the council." Says Elrond.

"I do not ask your pardon, for soon the black speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the world. The ring is altogether evil." Says Gandalf, his voice hoarse.

Boromir speaks up again, "It is a gift. Why not use this ring? Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay, by the blood of our people, are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy; let us use it against him!"

"You cannot wield it! None of us can!" Says the ranger.

"And what would a ranger know of this?"

Legolas jumps up, "This is no mere ranger, he is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

Boromir starts, "Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?"

"And heir to the throne of Gondor."

Aragorn says something in Elvish and Legolas angrily sits back down next to me.

"Relax," I whisper.

Boromir glares at Aragorn, "Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king."

Gandalf speaks up again "Aragorn is right, we cannot use the ring."

"We have but one choice. The ring must be destroyed," Says Elrond.

A fat dwarf stands up, "Then what are we waiting for?" He charges for the ring and tries to smash it with his axe, only to fail miserably and break his axe in the process.

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. The ring must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this." Says Elrond.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor. Its black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten-thousand men could you do this. It is folly." Boromir says.

"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond just said," Legolas snaps, "The ring must be destroyed!"

Gimli jumps up, "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it! I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of an elf!"

Legolas yells back something, but I can't understand it because by now, everyone but Rachel, me, and Aragorn are threatening punches. I notice the hobbit to my right is rubbing his head like he has a migraine. Suddenly he stands and yells, "I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor!"

Everyone quiets.

"No, I don't know the way."

"I will help you bear this burden," Gandalf says, "As long as it is yours to bear."

Aragorn stands, "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."

"And my bow," Legolas moves to stand next to Frodo.

"And my axe," says Gimli.

"My sword as well," Rachel stands and walks over too.

"My bow too," I say. Now that I think back, I'm really glad my parents forced me to take ten years of archery, starting when I was ten. Let's just say, I'm a _killer_ shot.

"You carry the fates of us all little one," Boromir says, "If this is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done."

"Ai!" A hobbit jumps out from behind a bush, "Mister Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"

"Indeed," says Elrond, "It is hardly possible to separate you two, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."

"Hi! We're coming too!" Two other hobbits run out. The first one speaks again, "You'll have to send us all out tied up in a sack to stop us!"

"Besides," says the second one, "You need people of intelligence on this sort of mission…quest…thing."

"Well that rules you out, Pip," says the first one.

"Eleven companions," Says Elrond, "Very well, you shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

"Right," says Pip, "Where are we going?"

I laugh and Elrond dismisses us. A teenage elf (I think Legolas calls them elleths) takes Rachel and I to our room. We talk for a bit; I find out that my red highlights have magically disappeared and then we both fall asleep.

**Rachel: Can I ask for comments?**

**Me: If you're not going to start an ad campaign.**

**Rachel: Can I beg?**

**Me: I do it all the time…that and bribing.**

**Rachel: *falls on knees* PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEA—**

**Me: *Covers ears* MAKE IT STOP! REVIEW BEFORE I LOSE HEARING!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rachel: With great stories, comes great procrastination.**

**Me: That's your excuse for not updating till now?**

**Rachel: Yep.**

**Me: Whatever works.**

**Rachel: Can I do the disclaimer again? **

**Me: No freaking way! Last time you added a hundred words to our word count!**

**Rachel: You counted?**

**Me: Rough estimate. We don't own LOTR, just ourselves.**

Kat's POV

I wake up sometime in the middle of the night. I have no idea what time it is or if it's the same day. The moon's full and it's quiet all around so I'm guessing it's late at night. I hate not being to sleep. So in order to make myself feel like I'm not an insomniac I trick myself into touring the palace.

I step out into a hallway and see instead of a door, there's about thirty.

"Crud," I mutter. I decide that it's safer to wonder down the hall until it's over than to stick my head into every door and perhaps awaken someone like Boromir or Aragorn who happen to be very good with swords and somewhat scare the heck out of me. So I walk. And walk. And walk. The end of the hall turns sharply to the left and leads to a fork. On one side I see a courtyard between rooms, and the other I can't see what's down there.

Being the brave—and sometimes idiotic—college girl that I am, I take the latter. It takes me to a stairwell that leads down to a library. I may be a rocker chick, but I love books. I stay in there for about two minutes till I see a rat the size of a small cat run under the shelves. That's when I decided to go through the courtyard! I may have even let out an involuntary shriek.

When I get back to the courtyard, I choose a random hall and walk. It leads me to a balcony overlooking all of Rivendell. This place is gorgeous!

Thinking that I was alone, I start running through the lyrics of a song Mack said I might like.

"I tried to cover my shine  
I've tried staying in the lines  
I don't wanna hide  
No not tonight—"

"You sing well."

"HOLY CRAP!" I yell, whirling around and ending up face-to-face with Legolas.

"Did I startle you?"

"Slightly," I say sarcastically, trying to catch my breath.

"My apologies."

"No problem," I say.

"As I said, you sing well."

"Thanks, I'm in a rock band at NYU."

"What is a rock band?"

"A, uh, group of musicians, who play very quickly and very loudly."

"Hmm. Why are you out here so late?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"You elvish blood is showing through."

"Uh-huh. Say," I think, trying to find a way to find my room again, "Would you like to walk me back to my room?"

"You are lost."

"Am not! I just…momentarily misplaced my room."

Legolas laughs, "Well, I suppose I could help you find it again."

"Thanks," I say, and we walk off through the courtyard.

When we get to my room Legolas says goodnight and leaves and I fall into bed and stare at the ceiling till I doze off again.

Once we're awake and functioning the next morning, my first thought is that I want some coffee. They don't have white chocolate caramel mochas with a double shot of espresso here. I may go crazy. Then Rachel and I walk out to where the Fellowship waits. Legolas sees me and gives me a slight smile. Rachel notices and nudges me. I roll my eyes.

Elrond speaks to us, "No oath or bond is laid that can go farther than your will. Hold to your course and may the blessings of elves and men and all free folk go with you."

Gandalf says, "The Fellowship awaits the ringbearer."

Frodo walks to and arch and turns left.

We walk after him for about an hour. Legolas comes up behind me and touches my elbow.

"I brought you these," he holds out two short swords.

"I can't use blades," I say, but when I touch these swords, a shiver of wonder slides down my spine.

"I shall teach you while everyone else sleeps."

"Won't I need to sleep?"

"Elves need a scarce hour of rest a day."

"I may be an elf, but I'm still a college girl. No way in heck can I function on an hour of sleep."

"So we shall see."

Rachel comes up behind me and coughs, "Crush!" into her arm.

"Ha ha." I snap.

"Kat, it's okay to let yourself love people."

"Sure…tell me how that works out for you. Remember when I told you about Matt?"

"So one jerk ditches you and doesn't talk to you for four years, and you're going to let him stop you from loving ever again?"

"Well, what about Connor and Jason, and Luke, and—"

"Okay, I didn't ask for your life story, all I'm saying is those guys were jerks so they determine your future?"

"No, but—"

"But you're letting them."

"Rachel, I really don't want to have this conversation."

"Just trying to help."

"I know, and thanks."

"You're welcome. The one thing I don't understand is, you give me and Amber such great advice, but you don't follow it."

"Yeah, I know," I stare into the distance, "I'm just not ready."

We keep walking until we come to this rocky shelf in the mountain and decide to make camp there.

Legolas comes up to me, "Get your swords and we will begin."

I grab my blades and we walk towards a small flat place in the shelf.

"Legs apart," he says, "Lean forward, one arm up, one at your side, good. Begin."

He swings at my side and I block, I take a slice at his neck and he blocks. We do a deadly dance with Rachel screeching in the background. Legolas corrects my stance and motions until finally he says, "Disarm me."

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Disarm me."

I parry with him and slide my blades down his and catch his palms with the blades. Ripping my arms apart, I pull both blades from his fingers.

He rubs his hands, trying to stop the bleeding. Wimp. It's only about as long as a paper cut.

"That was unfair," Aragorn says.

"No offense," I say, "But when people are fighting for their lives, they're not going to go along a certain set of rules. I doubt orcs are either." (Legolas had explained to me and Rachel the basics of where we're going, and the people we'll be fighting.)

Boromir and Rachel parry for a while, and I notice Aragorn lean in to watch. He's not even smoking his pipe. I wonder if Middle Earth is like Hallmark: Fall in love ASAP.

Whatever the reason is, he sure seems into Rachel.

Finally Rachel disarms Boromir (Unexpectedly) and she talks to him for a bit with her sword to his neck, and then with her hands on her hips. Somebody's a little upset.

Aragorn's eyes follow her.

Yeah, he's totally into her.

"She's a pretty good fighter, right?"

"Her skill is lacking."

"She seemed pretty good. I mean, she held her own against Boromir."

Aragorn chuckles, "You think that a Gondorian officer would parry with a beginner at his level?"

I cross my arms, "Whatever."

Then all off a sudden he gets up and moves. Maybe I'm just a crazy college girl who wants her best friend to have a boyfriend.

I get up and walk over to Aragorn and say, "She could definitely use some more lessons, don't you think?"

"Yes, I suppose she could. I may teach her more in the near future," he replied indifferently.

Yeah, I'm just a crazy college chick.

I get up and walk over to Sam and Rachel over by Sam's fire since he's the one with the food.

"Hey," I say.

"No," he looks at me funny, "Horses eat hay, this is sausage."

I crack up, "Where I come from, Sam, 'hey' is just a way to say 'hi'. I know you're cooking sausage."

"Oh, would you like some?"

"Sure," I say, and he plops a fat sausage in my fingers, still hot from the fire. I bite into it and moan. It's the good meaty spicy sausage without bread filling. It's pure amazingness.

Rachel's POV

After Kat left Legolas a nasty cut on his hand, Boromir challenges Pippin and Merry to a duel to help skill them with the sword. All of us watch and cannot help but laugh when both of them tackle Boromir to the ground. They wrestle for a little while and then Boromir calls a truce. When they finish, Boromir asks if I would like to duel him. _Well, I can't be any worse, so practice can't hurt._ Aragorn has been giving me some more lessons while on this "quest". He is always correcting me on everything, but does tell me that I am getting better. I'm sure he is still upset about me using Elrond's daughter's sword. I wonder what the deal is with that.

I feel confident enough to accept Boromir's offer. We walk to the clear patch of dirt and take our swords out. "Remember to move your feet and release the tension in your shoulders." Aragorn calls before we begin. _How does he know what's in my shoulders?_

We go through a five minute duel, and I notice through parrying and loud clashing of steel, that he isn't using his full strength that _I know_ he has. I use the same wrist twist that Aragorn has used on me and I disarmed him, which results in him falling to his knees_. _I look around to see that I am not the only one surprised. Everyone is staring at us. _What just happened?! _I hold my sword close to his neck and get closer to his face. "You let me win." I say in a low voice. I lower the sword and allow him to get up.

"I just wanted to let you feel a sense of accomplishment." He said with half a smile.

"Well, feeling it and doing it are two different things. I prefer to _actually_ accomplish a battle. FAIRLY!" I told him with my hands on my hips. "Therefore, I demand a rematch." Noticing my position, I took my hands off my hips and stared at him.

"Perhaps a little later, after I recover from this exhausting battle." He said with sarcasm.

I sigh as I walk over to see Sam and jump when I see Kat right behind me.

"What was that?" She said, hinting that something was _going on._

"Nothing, it's just that no matter what world I'm in, the boys go easy on 'poor' and 'helpless' girls. I mean you could obviously tell he was taking it easy on me!" I said with exasperation.

Kat looks at me with a smirk, "Mmmm, I don't think Aragorn noticed." and she starts walking away.

"Wait! What is that supposed to mean?" I said rather loudly.

Kat was about to answer when we see Legolas noticing a very dark cloud in the distance. "What is that?" one of the hobbits exclaims.

"Nothing, it's just a whiff of cloud." Gimli says.

"It's moving fast…against the wind." Boromir says.

The dark cloud gets closer, neither I nor Kat can figure out what it is. We hear a faint sound coming from this cloud, but we are still puzzled. All of a sudden, everything gets hectic.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas shouts.

"Hide!" Aragorn yells. He takes me away from Kat and pulls me under a rocky ledge. I, not knowing what "Crebains from Dunland" are, have no choice but to stay where I am and not make a sound. I look back to see Legolas taking Kat to some bushes to hide in. Everyone is scrambling to hide, putting out the campfire while grabbing their possessions. As the noise gets louder, Aragorn holds me tighter to himself. I can feel my face grow hot and my adrenaline pumping. Then, I see hundreds of crows come flying and cawing everywhere. I don't know why they are so dangerous, but I am afraid of what will happen if the find us. They fly all around the rocks and boulders, unable to find any life. They soon leave our camp, and we cautiously creep from where we hiding. I breathe as deep as I can to calm myself down, and can see Kat crawling out with a red face.

Gandalf comes out first, "Spies of Saruman," He says "The passage south is being watched." We gather together to make a plan. "We must take the Pass of Cahadras." Gandalf declares.

"We'll have to stay here and continue tomorrow." Legolas announces. We all re-setup camp and try to compose ourselves from what just happened. "What is the Pass of Cahadras?" I asked Aragorn. "It's a passage up those mountains over there." He replies and points to some snow-covered mountains in the distance. Well, this trip keeps getting better and better.

I slowly awaken the next morning very irritated that I am sleeping on hard ground and feeling quite cold. I open my eyes to find Kat having a hard time getting up as well. _Why am I still here? I should've woken up from this nightmare by now._ I sit up and look around to see Legolas getting ready his bow and arrows, some of the hobbits making breakfast as best as they can, and Gandalf smoking his pipe while sitting on a rock. _Where's "bright" and "cheery" Aragorn?_ I scan the area some more and finally find him coming toward us. He walks to Boromir, Gandalf, and Legolas and says, "No sign of danger, but we must keep going."

So, it the time it would take Kat to do her hair, we pack up and start walking to the mountain.

As we get to the top of the mountain, Aragorn and I talk about the differences between Middle Earth and New York. There are a lot more differences than similarities, that is for sure. I look up to see Kat walking on top of the snow alongside Legolas. "Hey," I say to Aragorn, "How come she can walk on top of the snow?"

Aragorn smiles, "Her elvish race enables her to be more light footed than the rest of us."

"You realize she's a total punk rocker, right?"

"A what?"

"The opposite of light footed."

Aragorn laughs. Just then I see Frodo rolling down the mountain towards us. Aragorn and I run towards him and each catch one of his arms. The first thing he does is check for the Ring. It's not there. We look up, only to see that Boromir has the Ring. Legolas has his bow drawn and ready, with Kat quickly following his example. Aragorn grips the hilt of his sword and yells, "Boromir! Give the ring to Frodo!"

Boromir reluctantly hands the ring to Frodo and ruffles up his hair, "Of course, I care not."

As we make our way up, it gets darker. I focus solely on getting up the mountain, and I hear reluctant yells from the Fellowship, but I still don't pay much attention. Suddenly lightning strikes and Aragorn grabs my arm, and pulls me to the rock wall, as rocks shower around us. He pulls my arms tight to him and I feel his heart beating fast through my cloak.

Boromir yells something about Saruman and trying to bring down the mountain. Options are thrown around as to where we will go, but nothing is decided and suddenly snow covers us.

Kat's POV

I can't breathe. Snow presses me down from every side. Claustrophobia sets in. I'm about to black out when I feel Legolas gripping my arm. He pulls, I struggle upwards. When I'm finally out, I'm freezing and wet. Legolas hugs me and rubs my back to warm me…I think he's trying to warm me. Heck if I know.

Everyone is cold, wet and angry.

Boromir mentions going to Gondor or Rohan, and Aragorn says they're too close to Isengard and Mordor, and then Gimli says something about Moria, and Gandalf finally says, "Let the Ringbearer decide."

We all stare at Frodo. I notice Legolas still has his hand on my back. I consider shrugging it away, but the warmth and slight pressure of his fingertips against my spine is calming.

"We will go through the mines," Frodo says.

Legolas offers me his hand but I shake my head and struggle up on my own. I catch Rachel's eye and she shakes her head. I roll my eyes. I know she means well, but still.

We keep trudging through the snow all night long. I notice I don't feel as tired as everyone else looks. Crud. The elf was right. I hate it when I'm wrong. Shocker, I know.

When we finally make it to the base of the mountain we come to a shallow lake. It's gray and filled with dirt, and there's a thin film on the water.

"Come," Legolas offers me his hand, but I just keep walking. The second I set my foot down, the slimy bottom makes me slip. He laughs and catches my hand and we walk like that through the lake…hand-in-freaking-hand.

I hear Rachel laughing and know exactly what she is thinking.

Gimli walks up beside Legolas and me once we get out of the water (I let go of his hand very quickly).

"They say," he begins, "That the dwarves hid their secret entrance so well that even they themselves cannot find it sometimes."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Legolas quips.

"Hey!" I elbow him, "Like you've never forgotten anything in your life."

"I have not."

"Am I the only elf who can't find her car keys or guitar pick?"

"Car keys? Guitar pick?" Legolas asks.

"Never mind."

"Kat," Rachel says, "You wear your guitar pick around your neck on a string."

"I know! That's why I'm always embarrassed when I can't find it!"

I see Gandalf rubbing the wall and whispering.

"What is he doing?" I ask Legolas.

Before he can answer, the wall glows blue. "Oh," I say, "That's what he's doing."

"It reads," Gandalf says, "The doors of Durin, lord of Moria, speak friend, and enter."

"What do you suppose that means?" Asks Merry.

"It's quite simple," the wizard responds, "If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." He starts speaking in some weird language…I have no clue what he's saying. The doors don't move.

"Okay…" I say.

Gimli builds a fire as Gandalf tries again and again. I sit down and Rachel sits on one side of me and Legolas on the other. Rachel nudges me and winks. I nod at Aragorn and she grins.

"Legolas," I say, "Do you think any of us will survive this?"

"I do not know, Kat. I know though, that they with the greatest spirit shall prevail the longest. So I believe you have the greatest chance of all." He touches my hand. Normally I would never let anybody touch me like that, but I'm so scared, both for me and Rachel, that I accept his touch. He holds my hand softly, rubbing my knuckles with his thumb.

I look at Rachel, and when I say that her mouth is in the perfect "O" shape, I'm not exaggerating.

I laugh and Legolas lets go, "Is everything alright?" he asks.

"Yeah," I chuckle. Rachel is frozen.

"KNOCK YOU RHEAD AGAINST THEM PEREGRIN TOOK!" Gandalf yells, "And if that doesn't break them I don't know what will!"

I don't know what Pippin said, but it certainly riled up Gandalf!

"It's a riddle," says Frodo, "What's the elvish word for friend?"

"_Mellon_," Gandalf says. The doors creak open.

**Rachel: You cut Legolas. You're a horrible person.**

**Me: Yeah, I know, but he had it coming.**

**Rachel: He just asked you to fight.**

**Me: I know. Have you ever known me to not be competitive? **

**Rachel: True. But you at least let him hold your hand *Winks***

**Me: Oh shut up. Please Review so Rachel will stop bugging me.**


	5. Chapter 5: Author's Note

**Author's Note:**  
**Kat**: Wow, okay, this has been over a month! Rachel!  
**Rachel**: Sorry, geez.  
**Kat**: But no hard feelings. School is evil.  
**Rachel**: No kidding.  
**Kat**: My English teacher is irritating me.  
**Rachel**: I know. You told me.  
**Legolas**: What's English?  
**Kat**: It's an insanely crappy school subject in which we are required to write stories and essays all freaking day long.  
**Gimli**: That shouldn't be hard for you, Kat, you hardly stop talking.  
**Kat**: …Gee. Thanks Gimli.  
**Gimli**: You're welcome, lassie.  
**Rachel**: Chemistry is evil as well.  
**Kat**: *nudges Rachel* If you have the right *cough* lab partner *cough* ARAGORN *cough* it's not that bad.  
**Rachel**: Shut up.  
**Pippin**: Do you need some water Kat?  
**Kat**: No thanks, Pip.  
**Aragorn**: What is this?  
**Rachel**: Uhh, I'm not sure. Kat, what are we doing?  
**Kat**: This, you wonderful non fanfictioners, is called an "author's note". This is what we do when we're at writer's block *cough* RACHEL *cough*.  
**Rachel**: Yeah, I think they know.  
**Boromir**: *Walks quiet up behind Rachel* Boo!  
**Rachel**: HOLY CRAP! Boromir! What the heck? *Punches Boromir in the arm*  
**Kat**: *high fives Boromir* Awesome!  
**Rachel**: You suck as a friend.  
**Kat**: Yeah, but you love me.  
**Gandalf**: *Walks in* Come. The journey must continue.  
**Aragorn**: *Sheaths sword* Let's go.  
**Kat**: Right.  
**Pippin**: *trips Merry*


	6. Chapter 6

**Kat: Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.**

**Rachel: Yeah, yeah. But at least we got a chappie!**

**Kat: And it's like crazy long too! We don't own LotR. Tolkien does.**

**Rachel: AND HE DOESN'T SHARE**

**Gandalf: Come. We must go.**

RACHEL'S POV

The gigantic doors of the place calls Moria creak open very loudly. We all get up and head into the dark unknown. We're not quite sure of what is in store, but Frodo must have chosen this place for a reason.

We enter the big mine, and it is very dark with a very unpleasant smell. It reminds me of old meat that has sat out for a month. As we continue walking, Gimli starts rambling about what we are to expect from his cousin beyond this dark and damp dwelling. He says something about malt balls and beer. Regrettably, I can't see us getting any of that because the whole mine itself seems…dingy.

Gandalf lights his staff. We adjust our eyes. The first thing said came from Boromir. "This is no mine. It's a tomb." What we see is worse than it smells. There are carcasses everywhere. Lots of armor and sculls with shriveled bone-revealing bodies lay all over the steps and against the walls. I look down to see a skull looking up at me with an axe through its head. I am so grossed out that I accidently let out a small shriek.

Aragorn quickly covers my mouth and whispers, "We don't need the orcs to come and carry you off, do we?" I remove his hand and glared at him. I don't think my shriek compares to how loudly Gimli is freaking out. He is bellowing so loud that he could've wakened my brother from sleeping and trust me—he is no picnic to try to wake-up for school.

I look at Kat to see what she thinks of it. I really don't know how we are best friends. She is looking around sort-of confused yet fairly intrigued at how each of these soldiers died. She used to watch a lot of NCIS before we got stuck here, so I'm sure she is trying to do her best Ducky impression. Apparently, he talks to dead bodies about how "it happened once in Scotland."

I see Legolas pick up one of the arrows. "Goblins!" He exclaims. I know from fairy tales that goblins are not good. Everyone, including myself and Kat ready our weapons for whatever may come out at us.

"We make for the Gap of Rohan. We should never have come here." Boromir says. I notice the hobbits look a little squeamish. Boromir starts getting anxious too. "Get out of here! Get out!" He yells. All of a sudden, Frodo is gone.

My first instinct is to rush to the screaming hobbits. I find Frodo with a huge tentacle wrapped around him. Sam is able to cut it off with his sword, but it doesn't stop there. The beast retaliates and thrusts all of his arms at Frodo, grabbing him and flailing him in the air. The others come and find Frodo wrapped in beastly arms, screaming for help. Legolas immediately shoots one of his arrows, Kat doing the same. Boromir and Aragorn confront the deadly thing with slashing of their swords against its slimy flesh. I charge at the creature in an attempt to assault it with every bit of strength I have conjured up in the past month. That was probably where I went wrong. I pull out my sword and cut one of the tentacles from the squid, only to have it take hold of me with another arm. I hear a scream from Kat, demanding that someone do something to save her best friend.

The squid has me wrapped up at the waist. I try to gash the darn thing but I had dropped the sword. I had nothing to fight with. _Crud muffins. How am I supposed to fight evil if it knocks the sword out of my hand? I did not sign up for this!_ I scream and fight as hard as I can. In no time, the creature rises to the surface of the lake and reveals itself as an ugly squid (as I had guessed) with a big head and ugly face. It quickly opens its gnarly mouth, about to drop poor Frodo in, when Boromir and Aragorn slash both tentacles that hold me and Frodo in the dreadful creature's grasp. I come plunging down. _This is the end. There is nothing left for me!_ Unexpectedly, I land in Boromir's arms in a strong hold.

"Into the mines!" Gandalf cries.

"Legolas!" Boromir screams as he makes his way back to the dark cave with me in his arms. Legolas shoots another arrow, hitting the squid in the eye, causing it to fall back. I look behind me to see Aragorn carrying Frodo in his arms, struggling as fast as he can. The squid advances, trying to grab hold of what it had. Instead, it brings down the entrance of the mine onto itself and barricading us in the blackness of the cave. We watch the walls fall as the darkness covers us.

The light of the moon is shutting out and it becomes pitch black. All I can hear is all of us breathing very loudly. I am set on the ground, but I still hold on to Boromir. I feel a sense of calmness and relief to be safe on a flat surface in the grasp of something that isn't trying to kill me. "Are you alright, Rachel?" Boromir asks.

"Yes. Thank you." I breathe out. "Hopefully, I will be able to return the favor of saving your life."

"I don't think it'll be long before that comes about." He admits. We turn to walk when someone pulls me aside. It's Aragorn.

"Are you all right?" He asks.

"Yes, I'm fine. What about you?" I reply.

"I have been better." I feel something shoved towards me. He is handing me my sword. _Shoot! I totally forgot! How could I forget?!_ I grab the sword, but he still holds on to it. "Try not to misplace this." He says in a low voice.

"I'm sorry. I'll try not to lose it again." I return.

"This sword is the key to your life, the only thing that keeps your blood pumping through your veins. It is irreplaceable." He explains. I try taking it again, and this time he releases it. _I gotta find the poop about the sword._

KAT'S POV

"There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity," I say to Rachel in the darkness, "And I think you crossed it."

My slimy friend punches me in the shoulder.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yeah."

I feel a hand on my shoulder and I hiss, "Legolas, let go." The hand drops quickly.

Before he can say anything, a beam of blue light fills the cave.

"It appears," Gandalf says, "We have no other choice. We must face the long dark of Moria."

I start walking after Gandalf as he says, "It's a four day journey to the other side. Perhaps our presence will go unnoticed."

Legolas offers me his arm and I shake my head.

Rachel catches up and starts walking with me.

"Why don't you take his arm or hand when he offers it?" Rachel asks.

"Because I don't want him to think that I'm weak or that I need help all the time." I reply.

"He is only trying to be a gentleman. Don't forget that you are a lady."

"How can I when I'm wearing this pain-in-the-butt dress?"

Rachel sighs, "Just remember that guys like to be needed, whether you are interested in them or not." Rachel and her advice. Sheesh. I simply say "ok" and quickly catch up to Legolas.

"Tell me about yourself, Kat," he says.

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, start with your family."

"Um, okay, my parents are some of the 65% of marriages that haven't ended in divorce, I have an older brother, Michael, who's studying criminal psychology at Northeastern University, and a sister who works as a CNA at a hospital in Brooklyn. What about you?"

"My father is Thranduil, lord of Mirkwood.Elarinya, the queen of Mirkwood is my mother and I have no siblings."

"Only child, huh? Bored, much?"

"Too many lessons to have time to be bored."

"Yikes, fun childhood. Didn't your parents play with you?"

"Play? My father was the king, my mother was the queen , they were too busy running Mirkwood to play with me. My nurse, Buieruwen, was the one who raised me the most."

"Yikes. Isn't that hard? Being raised by someone else?"

"Most people of great status, like yourself, are raised by a nurse. How were you raised?"

"My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She raised me and my brother. My sister had left home by then. My dad was a carpenter. My first job was at a consignment shop down the street from my house. My brother worked at a police station, filing old cases."

"Did you enjoy that life?"

"Yeah, sure, I mean, there were things I would have liked to change—"

"Such as?"

"Well, we didn't have a lot of money, so I didn't have the best clothes or newest music or laptop. My sister worked so much in Brooklyn that I didn't get to see her much."

"What is a laptop?"

"Oh, well… It's an electronic device that lets you look at pictures and listen to music and you can talk to people through it."

"Oh…"

He gives sort of a confused look and is quiet for a while, trying to process what I had just said. I should really tone down the 21st century language.

"Say, do you think you could teach me more of the elvish language sometime?"

"Perhaps sometime." He says. He gives a small smile and we continue on in the mine.

Rachel's POV

We continue walking through this mine that we have so graciously entered on behalf of the squid. _How are they genetically capable of attaining that size anyway? This place is weird._

Kat and Legolas are busy walking and comparing each other's lives. I think Legolas just asked what a Laptop was. Good luck Kat. Aragorn and I haven't talked since he told me to keep better eye on his _special _sword. Seeing him walking behind everyone else, I make my way towards him. He doesn't really say anything, probably because he focused on watching over the hobbits. We walk together for about 2 minutes, neither one of us speaking. After another 2 minutes, I muster up the courage to ask the one thing (among others) that has been eating at me since I met him. "Who was the woman that owned my sword?" I asked.

He was silent, looking at the ground as he walked. But then, "I don't wish to speak of her." He said.

I took a moment to think of a careful way to get it out of him "I want to know why you get upset when I use it. Maybe it would help to talk about her."

Again, he didn't say anything.

_I knew I shouldn't have asked._ We kept walking and walking, seeing pillars and very long hallways. _If this place is big for a human I wonder how the dwarves survive walking through it without having to take a break and sit down. _We finally get to this super-steep flight of stairs. _How is this going to be accomplished?_ We all begin climbing. For me, this wouldn't be different from having a harness on my waist and someone holding on to the rope that secures my safety if I should fall. The difference is there is no harness or a person to hold the rope in-case I fall. Well, there is Boromir. He caught me once, it wouldn't surprise me if he had to do it more than once. _I probably look like I'm climbing a mountain in Yellowstone._ I see Kat climbing up with Legolas following. Her feet lose their grip on the next step and she falls 3 feet down right in front of him. I use all of my will power to refrain from laughing.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked. He helps her up to a standing position.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." She says. "I almost tasted the stone floor."

"I'm sure would have a terrible flavor. Why would you want to taste the floor?" He asked.

Kat gives a hint of a smile and says "Remind me to teach you the art of English sarcasm in the near future."

"Finally." I hear him mumble.

"What?" Kat says.

"Instead you learning from me, I finally get to learn something from you!" They both laugh and I chuckle.

"What could be so funny at this moment?" Aragorn says, coming up behind me.

"Oh, just looking at the future" I say, looking towards Kat and Legolas.

"Well the future will be very dark and depressing if we don't keep going." He reply.

_Oy. _

KAT'S POV

All of a sudden Gimli yells, and runs towards a lighted room. I look at Rachel and we both run off after him. We enter into a dilapidated room with crumbling columns. In the center there's a tomb. Gandalf comes in and starts reading the markings on the tomb.

"Here lies Balin, son of Fundin. He is dead then. It is as I feared."

I touch Gimli's shoulder to console him and I hear Legolas whisper to me and Aragorn, "We should leave, we cannot linger."

I elbow him hard in the ribs for that little comment.

Gandalf picks up a book and starts reading, "They have taken the bridge and the second hall. We have barred the gates but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes, drums... drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow lurks in the dark. We cannot get out... they are coming."

Just then there's this crazy loud crash and I jump almost a foot in the air. Pippin has just knocked over a dwarf skeleton. It's armor makes this crazy loud crashing noise.

I gasp. I know that if something lives here, then we're all doomed.

We all wait. I don't think any of us are breathing. Rachel turns completely pale. She has her hand on her sword hilt. If she's already this prepared for battle, I don't think she'll die anytime soon in Middle Earth.

Nothing happens.

We all breath a huge sigh of relief.

Then Legolas whispers, "Listen."

Bum…bum bum…bum bum bum…bum bum bum bum…bum bum bum bum bum!

"Orc drums!" Aragorn says.

I hear a shriek.

Legolas yells, "Orcs!"

**Kat: Well, there you go.**

**Rachel: PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Kat: What she said.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Me: RACHEL GOT A FANFICTION ACCOUNT!**

**Rachel: Don't have heart attack!**

**Me: Check out RainaSaerwen!**

**Rachel: So uber sorry we haven't updated in forever. SOMEBODY had writer's block then the day she doesn't have it anymore, she goes and gets grounded!**

**Me: Sorry.**

**Rachel: What did you get grounded for? **

**Me: Although I'm in unit 8 of 10, I may or may not have skipped art for four days. **

**Rachel: You see what I have to put up with? We don't own LotR**

Rachel's POV

Thanks to Pippin, we are discovered by orcs. I don't really know what we are going to do except… run. Boromir makes a start by running to the door of the tomb. All of a sudden, two arrows are shot in his direction. Thankfully he has good reflexes to dodge them. A terrifying roar resonates in the room. He quickly shuts the door and exclaims "They have a cave troll." He and Aragorn push against the door and Legolas throws them a couple of very large axes. Doing this gave us a few precious moments to ready ourselves for what dangerous beings were going to come before us, should they break down the door. Gandalf and the Hobbits pull out their swords, Frodo's being blue. Aragorn, Legolas and Kat draw their arrows on their bow and Boromir and I pull out our swords and shields.

"Remember what I taught you Rachel. Move your feet, steady arms, and never look down. Fear must not over rule you." Aragorn says. He looks worried, and I can't blame him after what happened with the squid. I hadn't much training and this was my first battle, but I was going get through it and prove my abilities. I look at Kat and Legolas with their readied arrows. I give Kat a look that she understood as "Good Luck". _I hope we make it. _

The Orcs are doing everything they could to break down the door. The doors are jolting and all of us are on edge just waiting for them to give out. Gimli isn't scared a bit. In fact he jumps on his cousin's grave and growls, "Let them come! There is still one dwarf in Moria who still draws breath!" We all stand ready. The door begins to tear down. Axe blades become visible. As soon holes in door show visibility of orc flesh, Legolas lets out the first arrow and we hear a high-pitched shriek. Aragorn lets out the next one and then Kat follows with one. We hear another shriek that time so she must have hit it.

It has happened. The door crumbles down and the strange and hideous creatures come piling in towards us. This is it.

KAT'S POV

These huge orc things are freaking scary! I grab my bow and exchange looks with Rachel. Legolas gives me a weird look, "Get behind me," he says, "I'll protect you."

"Um, yeah, good luck with that." I don't move. Rachel gives me her _you-should-let-him-help-you_ look. I give her my _I'm-not-a-freaking-weakling_ look. The orcs bust through the door and we all start fighting like mad. I see Aragorn take the head off of one. If I was like Rachel and hated war movies this would terrify my. But I've already seen _300_ about a million times so blood doesn't scare me anymore. I unsheathe my sword, because now I need to fight closer than what a bow can do.

An orc rushes at my right side and I block and stab. Then I hear a roar. This freaking huge troll thing breaks through the door and charges me. Legolas shoots it but it doesn't even notice. I shoot at it but it misses and I dive through its legs and stab its thigh.

I hear footsteps behind me and I whirl around and kill the orc but before I can do anything I feel the troll's club smash into me. I fly through the air and the last thing I remember is my head hitting a rock.

Rachel's POV

"Kat!" I scream. I instantly run to her, stabbing and slashing every orc that comes my way. _This can't be happening. This just can't be happening._

I find her knocked-out and lying on the ground. I try shaking her and repeating her name over and over. I could feel hot tears coming to my eyes as I prayed in desperation for my best friend's life to return to her body. Not too long does Legolas come to my side.

"What happened?" He cried

"I saw her get thrown against the wall by that _thing_ over there!" I'm on the verge of hyperventilating.

"The cave troll…" He looks at it and then at her. I can see desperation in his eyes, wanting her to come back to life.

"What do we do?" I am willing to do anything to try to save my best friend, even if it means fighting every single orc by myself.

"We can't stay here. She'll be safer if we keep the orc's attention away from her." He takes my hand and leads back into the battle. I struggle against him to stay with Kat, but I don't put up a fight for long because I know he is right. I'm sure she'll do a better job of surviving this than the rest of us will.

And so the battle to keep my heart beating begins. Our biggest problem is defeating the cave troll. Legolas shot two arrows at it but that had no effect. I take a knife from an orc that I _thought_ was dead and threw it at the troll's chest. It hit exactly where I wanted it to, but the owner of the knife bashed me in the leg with its club. I quickly put it out of its misery in the most unpleasant way.

Legolas climbs to the upper level of the tomb and jumps on the trolls back. He shoots more arrows into the beast, but it does little to weaken it. The troll then spots the hobbits and knows exactly which one to demolish. Frodo is able to hide for a short time, but is quickly discovered. The troll pulls his leg and drags him from hiding.

"Aragorn - Aragorn!" Frodo shouts. Aragorn races in Frodo's direction and finds a very long spear. He thrusts it in the troll's gut, turning and twisting it to weaken his enemy's strength.

"Rachel!" He yells, struggling against the monster. I run up behind the creature and immediately stab and scrape its back and legs, making as many puncture wounds as my sword will give. It turns around to face me and howls a horrible sound. He faces Aragorn and throws him against the wall. He's knocked out cold, too. I try to rush towards him, but the troll sees me running and throws his fists at me. Boromir flies in front of me and blocks it with his sword. "You owe me double now." He says under his breath. He pokes and gashes out the monster while I run to Aragorn's side. The troll follows me with his eyes and immediately strikes once more towards me and Frodo. He pulls Frodo by the leg, grabs the spear from Aragorn's lifeless grasp, and stabs Frodo in the heart.

The whole world started moving very slowly now. I let out a shriek and run to his side, holding his head in my hands. I will never forget his face and the sound of his screams in pain. This is too much.

Out of nowhere, Pippin and Merry charge at the troll, jumping on its back and thrusting their swords into its skull. Then everyone joins in to the attack on this fowl creature that has killed the one reason for this journey. All of our hate and revenge on the darkness is solely thrown on this hideous creature. This is going to end. Legolas releases one last arrow. The cave troll stops throwing its fists. It sways and finally loses balance, toppling over to the ground with the hobbits falling in a tumble with it.

Now everything is still. The troll is defeated and there are no more orcs to be slain. The entire tomb is a wreck. Everything peaceful about it is no more. I try to rack through my mind of the horrors I just experienced, but the only thing I can concentrate is reviving my friends from their defeat.

I move to Aragorn and help him to his feet. I can't help but embrace him; the only person that I searched comfort was in him. He didn't embrace back, not _entirely. _But I could feel the slightest bit pressure of his hands on my sides. He quickly leaves me to help Frodo. We all gather to him, thinking we have all lost the ring bearer. But all is not what it seems. He still breathes with his hobbit lungs as if he had not been stabbed.

"You should be dead!" Aragorn exclaims.

"I think there is more to this hobbit than meets the eye" Gandalf says. Frodo parts his cotton shirt and we find a silver shirt underneath it with a gold design around the collar.

"Mithril," Gimli breathes. Apparently, Mithril is a very strong metal that can withstand any great force against it. Or so I was told by Gandalf.

"Omigosh. Kat!" I leave the group to the place where my best friend was laying. Not to my surprise, Legolas had beaten me to her. He holds her head in his lap. He looked insanely worried. I check for a pulse on her neck. Her heart still beats. "I knew she was alive," Legolas remarks, "I just knew she wouldn't die. Her heart is just as strong as her spirit." I almost want to giggle out of excitement for his words, but there was no time for that. It was gonna have to wait till Kat was awake to hear me rave about his devotion.

Very soon, we hear the familiar shrieking that I was hoping to never hear again while in Moria. Apparently, this was not to be.

Gandalf says something about a bridge and Legolas wastes no time picking Rachel off the ground and carrying her as fast as he can out of the tomb. The rest of us did not take very long either to follow.

We run. That's all I can focus on is running for my life from these ugly creatures. The noises grow louder and louder, to the point that it's so deafening that it creeps into the very edge of my sanity, trying to tear its way in and mess with my mind. I can't help but look back. Those orcs are gaining on us! They crawl from the walls and ceiling, raving and screeching like crazy. Suddenly, we stop and try turn around because they come running right in front of us. And then the sides. And then they catch up from the behind. We are surrounded. They look so menacing and vile; I can't look at one for long. I pull out my sword with everyone else readying their weapons. I look towards Legolas. I am so glad Kat doesn't have to see this. But then, those familiar eyes start to flutter open.

KAT'S POV

The first thing I'm aware of is a really bad headache. The second is that I'm lying in someone's arms, my head against their chest, and their arms around my back and under my legs. And the third is the screeching screams of the orcs. I look up into the face of whoever is carrying me. Here comes a big shocker: It's Legolas.

He smiles at me, "Welcome back, Kat."

"Hi." I nod at the ground and he sets me down. That's when I notice that we're completely surrounded by orcs. Great. As I get down I get really dizzy and reach out to grab hold of something. Legolas catches my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry," he whispers, "I've got you."

Even in the midst of our imminent death, I swear, I see Rachel grinning. Sometimes that girl can get on my nerves!

Just then there's a roar. The orcs scatter like frightened cats, and Gimli starts yelling as if he himself singlehandedly defeated them.

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir says.

Gandalf sighs. He knows what it is. "A Balrog of Morgoth," he says, "A demon of the ancient world. His foe is greater than any of you. RUN!"

Before I can think, Legolas has one of my hands and Rachel has the other. I'm running and running, but my breaths…are…hard to…take. I…can't…run. I'm just about to collapse when Legolas notices and gathers me again in his arms. There's a door in front of us and we're apparently going through it. Boromir charges through and almost falls to his death. Aragorn pulls him back just in time. Gandalf shoves Aragorn down the stairs while mumbling something about the Bridge of Khazad-Dum.

Finally my head stops throbbing and I tell Legolas to put me down. We're on a stairway and there's about a five foot gap in front of us. Legolas leaps it with uncanny ease. He waves at me, "Jump, Kat!" Oh, crud. As much as Legolas has been trying to convince me about my uncanny elvish abilities, I'm still not totally sure about making this jump.

"If I die I'm blaming you!" I yell.

"If you die you will not be able to blame me; you will be dead," he responds.

"It's a figure of speech numbskull." I gather my strength and jump. I actually make the jump, but I have way too much momentum so I almost keep running, until Legolas grabs my arm, that is. He calls for Gandalf, and the elderly wizard also (surprisingly) leaps the gap. Boromir grabs Pippin and Merry and jumps right after Gandalf. A section of the stairway breaks off, leaving a seven-foot gap instead of five. Rachel, Sam, Gimli, Frodo and Aragorn are still stuck up there. Rachel jumps and is clearly a foot short.

"RACHEL!" I scream. Boromir darts forward and catches her hand, her hip slamming into the wall. He pulls her up and she and I hug. "We're both having near-death experiences today," I say.

"Don't remind me," she replies. We turn around to watch everyone else. Aragorn chucks Sam with ease and Boromir catches him.

Aragorn reaches for Gimli, but the proud dwarf snaps, "No one tosses a dwarf!" And he jumps. He made it farther than Rachel but he's still a good four or five inches off. Legolas reaches out and clasps the only thing he can—Gimli's beard. "NOT THE BEARD!" The dwarf yells. I can't help but chuckle a bit. Another huge chunk of stone breaks away, and a pillar crashes down behind them. Now Frodo and Aragorn are basically on an island of rock. If that's not terrifying enough, the aforementioned island decides in and of itself to move. Now they're leaning all over the place. Sam and Rachel are both freaking out and everyone else is pretty much in a silent state of shock. Finally Aragorn gets a clue.

"Lean forward!" He yells, and he and Frodo lean forward to make the island move forward as well. It smashes into the stairwell that the rest of us are on. As soon as they are here, we bolt towards the bridge. As we're about halfway across, the Balrog charges towards us.

"HOLY CRUD MUFFINS!" Rachel and I yell in sync. Gandalf shoves us forward and he remains on the bridge.

"Gandalf! What are you doing? Come on!" I scream. I try to run back for him but Legolas catches my shoulders and holds me close to him. I shove him off me and try to bolt again, but this time Gimli catches me.

"Wait, lass," he says, "Gandalf knows what he's doing."

"You shall not pass!" The wizard yells. The Balrog roars. Gandalf repeats what he said. The Balrog charges. Gandalf smashes his staff in the ground. The Balrog looks at him as if to say, "Are you serious? That's the best you can do?" It takes another step and the bridge gives way and the beast plunges to its death. But as Gandalf turns, the Balrog makes another strike with his fiery whip. It catches Gandalf and pulls him into the abyss. He catches hold of the rock though and I loosen myself from Gimli's hold.

"Gandalf!" I scream. I charge forward with Frodo on my heels. Aragorn reaches out and catches me around the waist. I struggle but he's stronger than me. I see that Boromir has Frodo.

"Fly, you fools," Gandalf whispers. And he lets go.

"Kat, let's go," Aragorn whispers. He pulls me towards the tunnel and as we walk, I wish that this is all just a bad dream and I'll wake up any minute.

**Me: MY FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ELS**

**Rachel: Please review or I'll be putting up with this for weeks.**

**Me: You're so uptight.**

**Rachel: And you're borderline psychotic. We complete each other. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Me: We're back! And we're skyping.**

**Rachel: Again.**

**Me: So this chappie is like, insanely long. We were going to finish the whole first book in this chappie…**

**Rachel: But when the word count is already over 2,500 and I'm not even done yet…**

**Me: We figured that just Lorien would be a good idea.**

**Rachel: We don't own Lord of the Rings. We just own ourselves.**

**Me: Yeah, sadly I'm stuck with myself and my weirdness.**

RACHEL'S POV

I can't believe it. Gandalf falls. He's hanging off the side of the bridge… and he's gone. How can this be? Did he even try to get up? I don't know. I am pushed and shoved out of the tomb before I can see anything. Oh what a great despair to have lost our guide. I can't imagine what Frodo is going through right now.

We finally see the light that we have been desperately looking for. The cool air fills my lungs of the much needed oxygen that they were deprived of the entire walk through the tomb. Immediately, I run to Kat and hug her, first for being alive and second for mourning over the loss of the wise and knowledgeable Gandalf the Grey. Once more, those hot tears rise to the surface of my eyes, but I quickly fight them back. I can see that Kat is struggling with her own as well. We break away from our hug, but we find a rock and sit down to rest. I cannot help but rest my head on her shoulder in grief, and she wraps an arm around me.

As for the rest of us, the hobbits crumple to the ground and weep. Boromir is holding Gimli back, who looks like he is about to explode. Legolas walks around, staring in disbelief and thinking about the past events. I notice he gives a look of sympathy to Kat. Surprisingly, she returns the gaze. Aragorn cleans his sword and looks hurt and disgusted as the rest of us. But I can see he is also feeling some anxiousness.

"Legolas, get them up." He calls.

"Give them a moment, for pity sake!" Boromir exclaims. He can obviously tell that all of us need some time.

"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs." Aragorn puts his sword back in his sheath. Boromir can only stare at him. But I understand. I have seen these terrible creatures, and I don't want to see anymore. Not to mention we need to continue on for our sake and Middle Earth's.

"He's right." I cut in. "We have to keep moving. There will be time to grieve later." I stand up from my spot and pull Kat up too. Aragorn gives me a nod. It took a lot out of me to say that.

"We must reach the woods of Lothlórien." He says. "Legolas, Boromir, Rachel. Get them up." Aragorn looks for Frodo while I go to Pippin and Merry.

"I'm sorry but we must keep going." I help both of them up and brush off the snow from their clothes. I walk to catch up with Kat when Aragorn walks towards me. He looks at me with those handsome blue eyes. Those eyes that have seen anguish and desolation. I'm almost getting lost in them until he speaks,

"Thank you for being strong, Rachel." I offer small empathetic smile and a nod. He turns around and starts walking in the direction of the woods he had talked about. Even though I hide it very well, I'm on the verge of breaking down. All of us came so close to getting killed by these creatures that I can't even describe. We have to keep moving if we are to get as far away from them as possible.

I begin on my way to Kat, who is standing there waiting for me.

"What did he say to you?" She asked. I didn't say anything for a minute. But then I smile.

"I'm glad you're back." I whisper to her. She puts her hand on my shoulder and gives me a small smile.

We walk for what seems hours. Aragorn is always running ahead like he is on some chase to find a key that will set us free from all of this. We walk through creeks and very rocky terrain until we see a wooded area in the distance. That's when we begin to run. And we run until we are covered by the green and brown trees, with no one to see us but the inhabitants within.

We walk very carefully and quietly. I'm not sure why, for I don't what lives in these woods. I must say though, these woods are beautiful. They remind me a lot of the woods I use to walk through at my grandparents' house in Michigan. It a sort of way, the falling of the leaves and the sunlight through the trees give me a very calm feeling.

Of course, Gimli disturbs the peace with his rambling on about this witch with great power or something. Of course I don't believe in witches, so it hardly scares me. But then again, I didn't believe in trolls either…

I notice Frodo looks a little worried and is searching through the woods for something.

"What is it, Frodo?" I ask. He doesn't answer but continues looking around.

Gimli chimes in again about the so-called "witch",

"Here is one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and ears of a fox."

And then we are caught. A group of arrows are pointed at all of us. Legolas draws his bow in defense and Kat tries to ready hers as well, except, with any sudden movement she makes an arrow inches closer to her.

"How are those eyes and ear working for you now?" She quips. A tall blonde elf walks forward out of the crowd of elves and arrows. He looks unenthused about our visit.

"The Dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark." Gimli growls under his breath. Kat tries to stifle a laugh but I give her a look that told her to keep quiet. "Welcome, Aragorn son of Arathorn, welcome Boromir of Gondor, welcome Legolas of Mirkwood." The elf smiles at Kat and me, "Welcome, ladies of the world of men. I am Haldir, servant of Lady Galadriel." He turns to Gimli, "It has been long since a dwarf entered into the woods of the Lady of Light." He turns to Frodo, "You bring a great evil here. You cannot enter."

What? We can't enter?

Aragorn starts speaking in that strange language again. _Why is that language so unrecognizable? _

Gimli protests about their language, "So much for the fabled hospitality of the elves! Speak in words we can all understand!"

Haldir says something in a weird language.

Gimli snaps, "Here's what the dwarf says to that!" Then he says something weird too.

Aragorn puts his hand on Gimli's shoulder, "That was uncalled for." Aragorn continues talking with Haldir in elvish till finally he says we can come.

We walk deeper and deeper into the woods and find ourselves walking within these huge trees with lots of stairs and rooms with gold and glass walls and we pass other elves also. This village is absolutely breath taking. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to create it. We finally reach our destination and see a beautiful (also blonde) woman walking down some stairs. If this was the witch Gimli was talking about, she doesn't have the facial qualities. She instantly looks at me.

"_Rachel Adelaide Kestler" _said a voice in my head. I look around and still find her staring at me.

"You know me?" I replied in my thoughts.

"_I know a great many things. I know you are troubled with being in Middle Earth. I know you don't understand why you are here. I know your courage is dwindling on a thread." _She pauses and her face softens. _"You must persevere. Do not let the enemy defeat you when you have only begun your journey. Patience is important." _

How does she know all of this? My face is getting hot and I can feel my legs are about to give in to the weight and pressure of my body…

KAT'S POV

I'm in a fog. We're in this place called Lorien, and no matter how beautiful it is, I can't really enjoy it. It reminds me too much of Gandalf. The serenity, I mean. We're standing in front of this woman, also an elf, and I'm so numb I'm not even paying attention. I'm out of my element. I'm normally really good at hiding my fear, pretending to be overconfident, and at the same time, not letting people in. I just stare at the ground. I'm just waiting till Aragorn leads us somewhere else.

"_Katharine Lucia Maverick."_

Who said my name? My head jerks up, but none of the Fellowship is looking at me, not even Rachel, who's the only one who knows my full name. But Galadriel is looking at me.

"_Forgive me,"_ It's her voice, but her mouth isn't moving along with the words. _"I forgot you preferred the shortened term, Kat." _Holy cow, she's freaking telepathic. Years of reading X-Men comics prepares me, because now I know I can communicate to her too, through my thoughts.

"_Yeah…"_ I think.

"_You are burdened with a grievous weight. Gandalf was wise, do not doubt him. Do not carry the weight of the dead. Receive the aid of those who care for you,"_ She looks _right_ at Legolas, _"Forgive those who hurt you. Go and rest, for here you are safe."_

By now, elves have come to lead us away. They take us to this little area where there's a hollowed out tree stump doubling as a cottage. Gimli falls right to sleep, while everyone else kind of wanders about. I see Legolas standing about twenty feet away.

"_Now's your chance_," Galadriel's voice enters.

"_Okay_," I respond, "_But I won't be able to talk with you in my head_."

She doesn't respond. In other words, she's no longer in my head. I walk over to Legolas. "Hi."

"Hello," he responds coolly.

"I'm sorry I've been so, umm…"I'm at a loss for words. I bite my lip.

"Cold? Distant? Emotionally secluded?" He suggests with a slight smile.

"Yeah," I reply. "I don't mean to be, it's just, my track record with guys kind of sucks."

"Track record?"

"Um, experience."

"What is your experience with people?"

"Guys, um…Let me think of a way to say this without offending the present company. The guys I used to know would pretend to care about you until they got what they wanted then they would leave."

"I promise you," he says, "I won't leave you." He looks at me, "You're shaking Kat."

"I'm a little out of my element here. I'm not used to being weak. If I am, I try to hide it."

"I do not believe that letting me in would be considered weak."

I'm so uncomfortable right now. I try to change the subject, "Which of these stars are constellations?"

Legolas smiles and goes along with it, "That is _Namba_, the Hammer. It is said that a poor dwarf saved the life of a young elf with nothing but his hammer. The Valar believed that his courage was something to be remembered, so they put his hammer in the stars."

I point towards another group of stars, "That shape looks really defined. What is it?"

Legolas frowns, "Black magic. There is no great tale of valor behind that constellation, only pride."

"And on that pleasant note, I'm going to try to get some sleep." But before I can go, a chorus of Elvish voices rise in the darkness.

"A lament to Gandalf," Legolas says.

Merry looks up, "What are they saying?"

"I have not the heart to tell you, for me the grief is still to near to bear."

Well, I certainly know what that's like.

"Do they say anything about his fireworks?" Sam asks.

Legolas shakes his head.

"They're ought to be a verse about his fireworks." Then Sam starts:

"_The finest rockets ever seen  
Burst in colors of blue and green  
Then after that were silver showers  
That came falling like a rain of flowers."_

"Oh no that doesn't to them any justice," He says.

"It was perfect, Sam," Rachel says.

I head over to where there's a stack of blankets. I grab two (There's at least two dozen) and use one as a pillow, and wrap myself in the other one. I fall asleep watching the stars.

The next morning a teen elf (I think I heard Aragorn call them elleths) informs us that Galadriel has gifts for us. The elleth leads us towards Galadriel and she surprises me by singing.

"_I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew  
Of wind I sang, a wind there came, and in the branches blew  
Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea  
And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden tree  
Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone  
In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion  
There long beyond the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years  
While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears  
O Lorien! The winter comes, the bare and leafless Day  
The leaves are falling in the stream, the Ricer flows away  
O Lorien! Too long have I dwelt upon this Hither Shore  
And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor  
But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me  
What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?"_

Then, she tells us that she has gifts for us. She hands Aragorn a new sheath for his sword, Boromir gets a belt, Pip and Merry get silver belts, Legolas gets a bow and some arrows, Sam gets a box of dirt, Frodo gets the light of a star with some weird Elvish name, and then she turns to Gimli, "And what would a dwarf ask of the elves?" She says.

Gimli stutters, "None, milady, save that I have looked upon the face of that which is most beautiful."

Galadriel smiles, "None should ever say again that dwarves are ungrateful! But please, what gift can I give you?"

He stutters again, "Well, there is one thing, perhaps a single strand of your hair which surpasses the gold of the earth as the stars surpass the gems of the mines. I do not ask for such a gift, but you commanded me to name my desire."

The elves gape at him. Galadriel runs her fingers through her long blonde hair and gives him three hairs. Then she turns to Rachel. She smiles, "Not many things are hidden from me, and I found that in your mind, this is your most treasured possession." She holds out a simple pearl necklace. It's the one that Rachel's mom gave her for her 18th birthday. Then she smiles at me. Oh crud. "You were a little harder to decipher, Kat. But I did find this." She held out a black cord with, what else, my black guitar pick with the Demon Hunter logo on it.

I laugh, "Thanks, milady."

She smiles. The elves come and gives us cloaks and provisions and then we're given canoes. Aragorn starts by saying, "Boromir, you take Pippin and Merry. Kat, you and Gimli ride with Legolas. Rachel, Frodo, and Sam you will ride with me." Next thing is, I'm squished between an elf and a dwarf.

RACHEL'S POV

Ugh, we have to get up once again on a very early morning in Middle Earth. Except we're in the calm and peaceful woods of Loríen, so that makes this journey a little more tolerable. We are in boats on the river Anduin heading south. I'm in a boat with Aragorn, Frodo and Sam. Kat is traveling with Legolas and Gimli in a separate boat and Pippin and Merry are traveling in a boat with Boromir. I'm sure Kat is planning a million ways on how to tease Gimli about his temper and Legolas I'm sure is planning a million ways on how to get Kat to open up about herself. As myself, I just sit quietly and think about the journey ahead and what we will encounter once we reach land.

The Elves see us off and the last thing I see from Loríen is Galadriel standing at the shore, raising her hand and wishing us a farewell.

We float across the river for a while, not breathing a word to anyone. Frodo looks a bit out of it and Sam just looks anxious. I turn to face Aragorn. He has his eyes on the water ahead but then looks at me, not really having a special look to him.

"What do you think we'll see today?" I ask.

"If we are quick and quiet enough, we won't be seeing much of anything." He replies indifferently.

I don't say anything for a moment. I'm exactly sure of what to talk about, because I know we don't have anything in common. I saw a lot of wooded areas along the river we are traveling. So the naturalist inside of me decides on a good topic to discuss,

"What sort of animals do you have here in Middle Earth?"

"Besides those foul creatures that we encountered yesterday? We have birds, and small rodents and big game animals. There once believed to be Griffons, but there have been traces of any."

"I see…"

"What animals roam in the forests in your country?"

"Same as what you said. I would've thought there would be a bear and wolf hybrid or a flying lizard with bird wings or something."

"Why would you think that? Do they have those sorts of things where you live?"

"Of course not. But we don't have orcs, wizards, evil eyes, or powerful rings either."

"Well, then consider your country fortunate."

"You know what my country has, but yours doesn't?"

He gives me a questioning look.

"A decent cup of coffee."

"What on earth is coffee?"

"It is a black liquid that humans drink. It is bitter and it makes one feel jumpy and energetic. Lots of people consume it but no one here seems to."

"Why would you want to drink something bitter just to feel restless and spirited? Honestly, I don't know how your culture functions when you could be consuming something more beneficial."

I laugh at this. I can't wait till Kat hears about this. She is going to go nuts when she hears about needing to drink something "more beneficial".

We continue down the river. I look to Kat who seems to be having a great time talking with her companions. I ask Sam and Frodo to tell me about their life at the Shire. They told me about Gandalf fireworks and all of the delicious things they ate at ever ate for each meal, and the massive parties they would throw. It would seem that being a Hobbit would not be such a bad thing, minus the shortness.

We start to see some rocky hills on the sides of the river and right in front of us are two humongous statues, one on each side of what looked to be this gate.

"Who are they?" I ask.

"The Argonath. Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old. My kin." He replied in awe.

"They were your ancestors? They were kings?!"

"Yes…" There was a long pause.

"It's a shame they can't help us right now with their size and everything. Can you imagine how many orcs they could take down?"

He laughs at this. A glimmer of life reveals itself in his eyes and smile. I sorely wish he would laugh again.

As we pass, Kat shouts, "That is seriously a frick'n huge toe!" I bust out laughing and she joins in, followed by everyone else in our group.

After some more time on the water, we finally reach land. Can't wait to ask Kat how her boat ride went.

**Me: COFFEE WITHDRAWL COFFEE WITHDRAWL!**

**Rachel: REVIEW PLEASE!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Me: Ten bucks says the end of this chapter will freak you out!**

**Rachel: Don't tell!**

**Me: I'm not! Just saying it will scare them.**

**Rachel: THEM? Think about me!**

**Me: Good point. In order to not be confused, you should just read on.**

**Rachel: We don't own LotR**

KAT'S POV

I spread out my blanket on the sand and lay down. Aragorn speaks first, "We wait for cover of darkness, then cross onto the eastern shore. We continue on foot from there."

"Well that's just it then?" Gimli says, "Just a straight shot to Mordor? Through the terrain of Emyn Muil, a path of razor sharp rocks as far as the eye can see? And after that, it gets even better!"

"Yikes," I say, "Somebody's chipper."

"That is our route," Aragorn says. Apparently he's not one for compromise. Boromir, Legolas and Aragorn whisper amongst themselves and I just sit there, like a total idiot and just watch the water go by. Boromir says something about wanting to gather firewood. Aragorn looks at me, "It is not safe for anyone to go alone; Kat, you go with him."

The last thing I want to do is wonder in the woods when I have a killer migraine from being out in the sun on the river for the past few hours. But I digress. I get up and follow Boromir. He has a weird look in his eyes. Like he's hungry. I would sometimes have guys look at me kind of hungrily when I would rock, but this is a different kind of hunger. I can't really describe it. We walk through the woods silently. I start grabbing logs at random and he snaps at me, "Not the wet ones, you useless girl. Dry wood burns better."

"Yikes, sorry." I drop the wet logs and start collecting dry ones. Boromir isn't even looking at me. I think he must have a headache too. Or something. I see Frodo approaching us. Maybe he wants to help.

"No one should wonder alone," Boromir certainly seems a lot nicer to Frodo. Do I have this effect on people? Boromir continues, "You least of all. You suffer, I see it day by day, are you sure you do not suffer needlessly?"

"Boromir," I say, "What are you getting at?"

"I know what you would have me do," Frodo says, "And it would seem like wisdom, but for the warning in my heart I must refuse you."

"Warning? I only want to borrow the Ring." Oh crap this is NOT good! Frodo takes a step back. "Why do you recoil?" Boromir says, "I am no thief."

"You are not yourself," Frodo says.

"I would only ask for the power to protect my people!" Boromir throws his wood on the ground.

"Boromir!" I jump in between them and he shoves me aside.

He dog tackles Frodo and they struggle while I get up and run over. The second I reach them, Frodo slips on the ring and disappears. I charge Boromir, slamming into his side and forcing him to the ground he starts yelling like a maniac, "I SEE YOUR MIND! YOU WILL TAKE THE RING TO SAURON! AND YOU WILL BEG FOR DEATH BEFORE THE END! CURSE YOU, AND ALL HALFLINGS!"

"BOROMIR!" I yell. Then the brilliant dude freaking trips and rolls.

"Frodo?" He whispers, just loud enough for me to hear? "Frodo! Please forgive me!"

"Boromir," I walk over to him and help him to his feet. He clings to my shoulders like a little boy who lost his mom.

"How can he forgive me?" Boromir said, "I tried to take it! I tried to take the Ring!"

"Boromir. Boromir, look at me." He doesn't look up so I slap him. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to get his attention. "Boromir! You're from Gondor!" I don't really know what any of this means, but I know from my experience with my brother, if you want a guy to be strong for you, you have to question their manhood. "You're from freaking Gondor! How are people going to see you if all they know is some guy crying on an elf's shoulders? Huh? Pull yourself together!"

He looks at me, "You are right, Kat. Thank you."

"Yeah, just doing my—" A vicious roar interrupts me. "WHAT THE HECK?" I yell looking at Boromir.

"Orcs," he says.

"Well whoop-de-freaking-doo."

Boromir grabs my hand and pulls me towards the roar, "Come! We must help them! Arm yourself, Kat!" I grab my bow and set an arrow on the string. We charge through the forest, banging into trees, and I trip over a log and almost fall over, as we race looking for anyone to help.

I barely hear the yells of Merry and Pippin, "Over here! Hey! Hey! Over here!"

"Boromir!" I yell. He nods and we charge off in their general direction. When we reach them, they're being swarmed by orcs. One in particular is charging them with an axe. I shoot an arrow at it, steal his axe and go at it with an orc. I hear a loud grunt/groan behind me and I smash the orc's skull with the axe and whirl around. Boromir has an arrow in his chest. "Boromir!" I scream. I rush towards him, but I see an orc going for Pippin. Boromir sees my hesitation and waves me on towards the hobbits. I fight with the orc, kill him and then hear another groan, and then a third one. Boromir has three arrows in his chest. Pippin, Merry and I are so angry that we are all three assaulting the orcs. Instead of taking just the hobbits, they grab me too! I see Rachel, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli coming towards us and I scream. The orcs throw my bow, arrows, knives and swords to the ground and the last thing I see of them is Legolas holding Rachel back.

RACHEL'S POV

"So, Gimli told me this joke about a troll walking into a pub, and it said- "

"Where's Frodo?" Merry asks. We had not been paying much attention to Frodo while we have been docked on this piece of land. Pippin was just telling me this joke that Gimli had told him while we were at the cliffs. We look around but Frodo isn't anywhere near us. Come to think of it, neither is Boromir. Uh-oh.

"Rachel come on, we need to find Frodo." Aragorn grabs a couple of knives from the boat and gives one of them to me. I thought we were going to rest before fighting anymore.

"Well, I'm sure that-"

"Please." He presses. I give a small huff and walk with him into the woods.

We walk a little ways and I remember that Kat had gone with Boromir to collect fire wood.

"Where do you suppose they could be?" I ask Aragorn.

"Frodo could be trying to clear his mind, but with Boromir, I fear the worst."

"But Kat is with him, so she'll be able to keep him be under control." I try to convince myself more than him that Boromir would not harm Frodo for a silly ring as long as Kat would be there to keep him "sane".

"Do you honestly think that a young girl such as Kat can calm a knight such as Boromir? You must be very tired to think something like that." He remarks.

"What _am_ I supposed to think? I just don't understand how something like a gold ring can possess him so that he would…become violent." He stops walking and faces me.

"This ring's power is beyond us to understand. It tempts those who are weak. It must be destroyed. And we have been called to help protect the one who must carry it. Even from those we are closest to." He gives me a look that tells me he is uneasy about this situation. We then continue on our search for the hobbit.

We walk for a bit until we find Frodo flat on his back next to a stone platform, breathing very heavily. I hope Boromir didn't harm him…or Kat.

"Frodo" Aragorn begins.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

Frodo waits a moment to catch his breath.

"It has taken Boromir" he explains.

"Where is the ring?" Aragorn asks.

"Stay away!" Frodo shouts and he scampers a little ways away from us. _What is wrong with him? We don't want the ring!_

We inch closer to him, but he only backs away farther.

"Frodo!" Aragorn tries again. "We have sworn to protect you."

"Can you protect me from yourself?" He replies. Aragorn looks at him in a questioning way and then at the ring in Frodo's hand. "Would you destroy it?" Frodo asks.

Aragorn walks closer to the ring, looking only at it the entire time. _The ring can't be taking him too…_

"Aragorn…" I half-whisper.

He crouches down to Frodo's level and finally closes his hand with the ring in it. _Oh thank goodness._

"I would have gone with you till the end. Into the very fires of Mordor. We all would have," he says quietly. I walk closer to him and Frodo.

"We are here for you. Please know that." I say.

"I know. Look after the others for me. Especially Sam, He will not understand." We reminisce this moment of our departing friend when all of a sudden, Aragorn pulls his sword out of his sheath. I look at his confused until Frodo pulls his out to reveal a blue glow. Orcs.

"Run. Run!" Aragorn demands. And so Frodo does.

"Ready your sword." He tells me and he walks a few feet to where we entered. A monstrous mob of orcs stood facing us.

"What if we don't survive this time?" I ask him as calmly as I can.

"Then we will die with honor of protecting the ring bearer. Be strong." He says.

_That doesn't make me feel any better._ I pull out my sword, ready to defend our Hobbit friend from the terrible enemy. Aragorn readies himself for the fight. He eyes a tall orc with a very determined look on his face. This is going to be quite a battle.

Aragorn runs forward, slashing and stabbing each and every orc in his path. _We will make it. We have to._ I charge towards them and take down orcs left and right. One swings at my head. I duck and swing my sword at his feet. Now there is one less orc with feet. I stab it and find another one coming at me with a battle axe. I block its thrust and slash throat. Another one fights me with a strange-looking sword. We parry till I am finally able to make it lose its grip on his sword and plunge my own into his gut. Aragorn runs up the stairs of the platform and I follow. _Where do we go now? _I hear the orc with the determined face shout "Find the half-lings!" _Well, that's just great. _

Without warning, Aragorn jumps right on top of a couple of orcs going down the stairs. _Is he insane?_ I run down the stairs as best as I can without tripping and help him up. Legolas and Gimli come from an entrance of the ruins, shooting arrows and swinging the axe. I run to Legolas, "Did Kat come back?"

"No, not that I saw. She is still with Boromir." He says, jabbing an orc with his arrow. "Aragorn Go!" Legolas grabs my arm and I stare face to face with him, "Go find Kat." He whispers. I give a quick nod and run, following Aragorn. We kill more orcs, many times coming close to dying on the behalf of our opponent.

I finish bashing an orc to a wall when I hear a noise that sounds like a horn being blown.

"The horn of Gondor." Legolas calls.

"Boromir." Aragorn says.

"Kat." I say.

Legolas, Aragorn and I run towards the sound, fighting off orcs as we go. Once we see them, everything is a blur.

Boromir has three arrows in his body, kneeling and gasping at the pain.

Pippin, Merry and Kat try to fight the orcs and avenge Boromir's wounds, but it does no good. As quickly as they put up a fight, they are carried away without any sort of upper-hand on the situation. Panic strikes my entire being. This wasn't the same panic in Moria. This was ten-times worse. The crowd quickly makes its way out of the forest, only letting me catch one last glimpse of Kat.

Desperate to do something, I run a few yards towards the direction the orcs had left, but Legolas catches up with me and holds both my arms with both of his.

"Rachel, stop!"

"What are we going to do? Kat has been taken by those nasty things! You can't just stand there!"

"She is beyond our reach. We will have to find her later."

"What's going to happen to her and the Hobbits? She is going to die!" Redness consumes my cheeks and two tears fall from my face.

"We will find her, Rachel. I promise we will find her." He pulls me forward and hugs me, trying to calm me down. He is showing his brotherly affection towards me, and I know it is hard for him to say "no" to going after her. I know how he feels for her.

He lifts me from the embrace and points me in the direction of where it all took place.

"Look. He is in more need of your compassion, now." He is referring to Boromir. I had almost forgotten about him. He is very badly wounded, but I don't think even a surgeon can fix what has happened.

Unfortunately, there was still one orc that stayed behind the rest. It was the determined-looking one. He must have shot Boromir all those times! Furious, I grab Legolas's bow out of his hand, an arrow from his quiver and take aim at it. The orc was about to take one final shot at Boromir when I shot it in the shoulder. It recoils and looks around to see where the shot had come from. Then he saw me. He howled and aimed the arrow at me. He was just about to release it when Aragorn jumps on him from behind. The orc thrusts his sword at him, but Aragorn blocks it. The orc pushes him against a tree and throws a shield at him, leaving his neck sandwiched between the shield and the tree itself. The orc comes at him, but Aragorn slips away from him. They continue fighting and tumbling to the ground, where Aragorn stabs the orc's leg with a knife. The orc in return socks him twice and throws a knife at him, which only shatters into pieces by Aragorn's block. They get up and clash swords until Aragorn stabs him in the stomach and cuts off his arms. It finally ends when the orc's head is severed off of his neck.

"Aragorn!" I shout. I, coming from the opposite direction, run towards Boromir and he does the same. Aragorn is beaten and bloodied, but he is not dead. It's a shame I can't rejoice over Boromir's fate.

We both face Boromir, kneeling side by side. He gasping for breath and is getting paler and paler.

"They took the little ones…and Kat." He breathes heavily.

"Be still." Aragorn says.

"Where is Frodo?" Boromir asks.

"I let Frodo go." He replies.

"Then you did what I could not." Boromir sighs. "I tried to take the ring from him. Forgive me; I did not see…I have failed you all…"

"No, no. Don't say that. You have fought with us bravely. It is a pity that I never paid you back for the times you saved me from my destruction." I tell him, holding his hand in my own.

"Oh Rachel…You are worth saving. You have so much strength in you, more than you know. As much as the king of Gondor himself, I would say." He then looks at Aragorn, who looks at me, and I look back at him. _The king of Gondor. Who is the king of Gondor?_

Aragorn moves his hands over Boromir's arrows that stick out of his chest, but Boromir stops him. "Leave them." He says, "It is over. The world of men will fall and all will come to darkness…and my city to ruin." He started breathing even louder now. I squeeze Boromir's hand, reassuring him that we won't leave.

"I don't know what strength is in my blood. But I swear to you, I will not let the white city fall nor let our people fail."

"Our people." Boromir replies. "Our people." He reaches for his sword and Aragorn hands it to him. I can see the he is on the verge of releasing his own tears along with mine. He knows he doesn't have much time left.

"I would have followed you, my brother. My Captain. My King." Those were the last words of Boromir. And then his body is lifeless and still. His chest isn't rising anymore. Air is not flowing from his lungs. He is gone. I let the deepest of sighs and clench my eyes shut. He was such a great protector and companion on the journey. And now he is no more.

Aragorn pauses a moment and hold Boromir's head. "Be at peace…Son of Gondor" He whispers, and he kisses his forehead in a brotherly fashion. I look back to see Legolas and Gimli behind us mourning in our friend's death. Then Aragorn rises, and lends me his hand stand up. We are both standing, but he still hasn't let go of my hand. After a moment he finally releases it and sets to work on removing the arrows from Boromir.

I walk over to Legolas. "I'm sorry." He says, and places a hand on my shoulder. "So am I," is all I can reply. When Aragorn is done, he and Legolas carry Boromir back to camp with me and Gimli following behind. To our surprise, there was one less boat on the shore of the river. I look towards Aragorn, but he does not look back. _The other two Hobbits…_

We place Boromir in a canoe and send it down river. We watch in silence as it falls over the edge of the waterfall.

I have to say my first experiences in Middle Earth were heartbreaking, and I am surprised that my heart hasn't stopped beating since everything that has happened. Kat and the Hobbits are gone, either dead or alive. Gandalf and Boromir are for sure dead. There are only four remaining from the original Fellowship of the Ring. _Who knows what we're gonna do next. I hope it's to find Kat and the Hobbits…_

I notice Aragorn isn't in very good shape to do anything, so being the caring nurse that I am trained to be, "We better clean up your wounds before we keep going. So the bacterium doesn't take a toll on your immune system."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you'll get sick if your cuts aren't cared for."

"Oh…"

"You should sit down."

While Legolas and Gimli are cleaning their weapons, Aragorn and I (with a water bottle in hand) walk a little ways where it's quiet. I grab the knife he had given me and start to tear at my cloak.

"Wait, don't do that." He says, and he tears some of his shirt off.

"You don't have-. "But the damage is already done. He hands it to me and I soak it in the water from the bottle. I started patting down on his arm first. I don't say anything for the first minute or so. There are so many things that I need to ask him that I finally find the courage to speak.

"Who was…" I have a hard time saying Boromir's name out loud. Aragorn looks up at me with those questioning blue eyes that never fail to make my stomach flutter. I try again.

"Who was Boromir referring to when he said 'the king of Gondor'? Was he talking about himself?"

He doesn't say anything at first. I finish bandaging up his arm and start cleaning his face.

"No." He replied. "He was speaking of me."

"Oh… So you are a king. A king of this country called Gondor…" I let it all sink for a moment. "It is pretty amazing to keep something like that to yourself." He doesn't say anything. I feel a little dumbstruck now. _Why couldn't he of said something? I could've kept it a secret._ Then I remember something.

"So when…Boromir said I had as much strength as the king of Gondor, he was referring to…" My voice trails off.

Once again, he says nothing. I work my way up with the wet cloth from the bottom to the side of his face.

"He must have not known what he was saying. Myself having as much strength as you. Highly unlikely." I say and I start sponging the blood off of his lip.

"But you do have the strength. I see it. I see _you_, Rachel." I have stopped the cleaning motions on his face now, but I still hold my hand there. He lifts his own hand and touches mine. We have a moment of silence before I slowly remove my hand from his face._ I never knew he thought this of me._

My eyes wander to the bottle next to me and then back at him. "I think you make a great leader. You have lead us on this journey responsibly. You lack nothing short of being a king."

He smiles faintly and says, "Will you continue with us?"

"My best friend is lost somewhere in Middle Earth with a bunch of blood-thirsty orcs. I couldn't leave if I wanted to. But even if I could leave, I was brought here to help protect everyone in the fellowship. I don't intend to go until this madness is over."

"Good." He replies. I finish mending him up and we both rise to our feet. We make our way back to camp and find Gimli and Legolas right where we left them. As soon as Legolas sees us he says very hurriedly, "There you are! Hurry! Frodo and Sam will have reached the Eastern shore!" Aragorn doesn't make any sudden movements. He just stands there looking quietly at the ground. The more I think about it, we never really came up with a plan. Legolas waits and says, "You mean not to follow them?"

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands." Aragorn answers.

"Then it has all been in vain. The fellowship has failed." Gimli butts in.

Aragorn walks closer to us, holds Legolas's shoulder with one hand and my arm with the other. "What if we stay true to each other?" he says. "We will not abandon Merry, Pippin and Kat to torment and death. Not while we have strength left." He walks over by the fire to grab his things. "Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light." He tucks his knife into its sheath, "Let's hunt some orc." He says. It is a good thing he turned away like he did so he couldn't see my face after he said that. Because I like the way he said that. A smirk grew on my face and I turn my head to look at Legolas. He has the same smirk on and so does Gimli. Legolas grabs my hand and we run after Aragorn. We are once again on another quest. This time, it is different, but equally as important. _Don't worry Kat, we're coming._

KAT'S POV

"LET ME GO!" I scream, pounding my fists on the back of the orc carrying me. Suddenly he drops me and slams his fist into my face. I groan and blood spurts from my chin. He ties my wrists together and puts them over his neck.

I groan as my vision is spotted with little black and red dots. I try to locate Pippin or Merry but the second I see Pippin's red hair, the spots take over my vision and I black out.

I come to sputtering and cough as a brown liquid is poured down my throat. Pippin and Merry are yelling at the orcs. The drink is bitter and strong. It's like really, really strong coffee that's been mixed with dog turds and rubbing alcohol.

"Shut up!" Growls the orc with the bottle, "Or you'll be getting a taste of it too!"

"Kat," Merry whispers, as we bump along, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Really. I'm just making them think I'm sick. It's just an act," I'm such a liar. My head feels like there's a beatnik playing the bongos accompanied by a Tibetan monk's gong.

"An act?" Pippin questions.

"See," I try to reassure him, "I even had you fooled. How long was I out?"

"Almost a day," Merry answers.

The orc I'm riding on slaps my leg so I'm guessing that means "Shut up or I'll eat you." Somehow, I don't doubt him. We're silent, me and the hobbits. I think it's because we're all terrified that we're gonna die. The sky darkens and the orcs throw us onto the ground.

"We ain't going no further till we've had a breather!" One orc yells.

I'm squashed in between the hobbits.

"I'm starving!" Another orc says, "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!"

"Yeah!" Another one agrees, "Why can't we have some meat?"

"What about them?" An orc says, "They're fresh."

"They are not for eating!" An orc who appears to be the head yells. Three orcs grab the hobbits and me and shove us onto our feet. "Saruman says they have something important. The hobbits are to be brought to him alive, and unspoiled."

"They think we have the Ring!" Pippin hurriedly whispers to me.

"Shut up!" I squeak, "The second they find out we don't we're dead!"

"Alive? Why alive?" An orc says, "What about their legs? They don't need those!"

An orc sniffs my hair. I shudder. "She's not a Halfling!" He shoves my back and I fall at the feet of the head orc, "She's an elf!"

"Is she now?" The orc grabs me and looks deep into my eyes, "That she is. Looks like meat's back on the menu boys!"

**Me: Review or I might die!**

**Rachel: If you die before Legolas can ask you out I will slap you myself.**

**Me: I'll be dead. It won't hurt.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Me: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Rachel: Oh, stop scaring them.**

**Me: Can't I have a little fun? **

**Rachel: No.**

**Me: Grumpy cat. We don't own LOTR.**

**Rachel: By the way! Thankiez to all you amazing reviewers!**

**Me: Yeah!**

Rachel's POV

We are still running. I have lost track of the time for how long we have been on the chase for the Kat, Pippin and Merry. We haven't found anything or anybody that has been of any major use to us, but Aragorn apparently is a very good tracker when all he has is dirt and Legolas can sense things. I don't know what exactly, but he can. Gimli just huffs and complains. Between running we occasionally stop, look at the dirt, gaze in a certain direction, and then we keep going.

I cannot make an objection about the scenery here. Even if I don't know where _here_ is, it doesn't really matter to me. The grass is green; there are lots of boulders, but very few trees. And the sun is shining. A perfect day to find my best friend and fight off her captors.

We take a break at a group of boulders. I pull out the water bottle and find that it is close to running empty. I see Gimli eyeing it, "I don't suppose you can spare me some, lassie?" I hand it over to him and he takes a long drink out of it. Now I know it's empty.

We continue more running. When it comes to pace, I am slower than Legolas but faster than Gimli. When we get to some cliff-like hills, I see Aragorn ahead of me start to slow down, so I continue running until I catch up with him.

Aragorn stops and decides to lay his head on the side of a rock. "What are you doing?" I ask. He then closes his eyes and doesn't make a sound.

He finally says, "Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent." He stands and looks at me.

"Um, alright then.," I return.

"HURRY!" He shouts. And continues to run. _How does he find all that out by listening to a rock?_ I see that coming from behind is Legolas with Gimli trailing as usual. We travel until we reach an area with a really big rock wall that shades us very well. Aragorn picks up something from the ground. It's one of the pins from their cloaks! The Lórien leaf!

"What does this mean?" I ask. I cannot help but have this hope that our friends are still alive. Even though I know it's not fair for me or the others.

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall," Aragorn says.

"They may still be alive." Legolas says. _Well…that really doesn't help…at all._ I don't like the word _may. _Why can't we just _know_?

"Less than a day ahead of us. Come." Aragorn starts running. Again. _I did not sign up for cardio. _Legolas follows behind.

Out of nowhere, Gimli tumbles down a small hill. I try very hard to stifle a laugh. Whenever you are on a long and degrading journey, remember to always bring a dwarf for entertainment.

"Gimli, Come! We are gaining on them!" Legolas calls.

"I am wasted on cross country. We dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances." Gimli bellows.

"Yes, I'm sure," I chuckle quietly under my breath. We don't jog very far until reach the top of a rise in the land. The view is breath-taking.

"Rohan. Home of the Horse-lords," Aragorn explains. "There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures…Sets its will against us." I think all the running is getting to his head. But then again, when has he been wrong?

We make our way down the rocks and boulders. Legolas runs ahead and looks around the scenery.

"What do your elf-eyes see?" Aragorn shouts.

"The Uruks turn northeast. They are taking the Hobbits to Isengard!" Legolas shouts back.

"Are they alive?" I yell.

"I can't see that far, Rachel," He replies.

"Well then what's the point of having eyes that can see far away?" I mumble to myself.

"Saruman." Aragorn whispers. "Let's go!" Again with the running. This much exercise cannot be good for you. _I'm gonna lose four dress sizes when this is over._

"I have had it!" Gimli cries. "This is too difficult!"

"Just remember. The key is to breathe. Keep breathing!" I call back.

"Breathe…The key is to breathe," He recited to himself. As we jog, the sun starts to set.

KAT'S POV

"Get a fire going! We'll cook her up nice and proper!" The orc throws me to the ground and I am once again with Pip and Merry. A groan erupts from the forest behind us.

"What was that?" Pippin asks.

"It's the trees," Merry says.

"The what?" I squeak.

"There was a forest on the borders of Buckland. Folk used to say that there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall…talk to each other…even move."

Before we can talk more about the talking trees, the head orc grabs me again, "I'll spill her blood till there's not a drop left!" The orcs around us roar in agreement.

I stare into the face of the orc with the axe poised above me. I feel the blood drain from my face as I realize that even though I survived Moria, I fought orcs, I saved hobbits, right now, I'm going to die.

"Wait!" Pippin screams. That idiotic little hobbit needs to learn to shut the heck up. "Wait," he continues, "Wait, you can't kill her."

"Why not?" Says the orc.

"Umm, because…uh," He stutters. This is not good.

"Because," I jump in, looking for the right words to say, "Because, the uh, tool that Saruman needs is not a tangible, er, trinket. He wants information. We know everything from battle strategies, to the holding place of the Ring of Power, to the vacation spots of the king of Gondor! He believed that these hobbits, and one of the other two each had a third of the information he needed. What he did not know was that Gandalf entrusted the final third portion of information to me."

"Then," the orc thinks, "You will give your information to the Halflings."

No, no, no! This is not going according to plan. I need to stall, "The hobbits?" I scoff, "I can't imagine that they could process this information, much less remember it. I can't believe that Gandalf would even trust these stupid, insolent, idiotic hobbits! They can't even remember which end is up when they're in the water! They couldn't—"

The orc slaps me, "Even if they forget some, they'll still have enough! Tell them!"

I walk over to the hobbits, place my face in between theirs and hiss, "Listen to me, sorry about the insults, I was trying to buy time to figure out what to do. Now listen closely, tell them everything but the truth. When you talk, look down and to the right. That's a tell that you're trying to remember something. Lie for all your worth!" They nod. The orc grabs me and I scream. Then, out of nowhere, a spear is lodged into his back. I fall to the ground, my head on Pippin's foot. Soldiers on horseback come out of nowhere, shooting arrows and throwing spears, killing orcs right and left. "Come on!"I roll over and the hobbits and I crawl towards the forest behind me. Merry calls me over and I see he found a knife. He cuts my bonds and we start running. The orc that wanted to eat our legs grabs Pippin from behind and holds on.

"The belt!" Merry yells. Pippin undoes his belt and we leave the orc behind. A horseman charges in between us and the woods. I grab a sword from a fallen orc.

"You touch me, or you touch these hobbits, and I'll slit your throat," I glare at him. He nods and drives his horse back into the fight. We race into the forest.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Great. The orc is following us and probably going to eat us.

We dart in and out of trees hoping to get away from this creature. Finally, Merry has the brilliant idea to climb a tree! "Why didn't I think of that?" I mumble as I lift Pippin and Merry into the branches of the tree. I climb as high as I can, but the hobbits are tree hogs.

"He's gone!" Merry says triumphantly. Just then I feel a vice grip closing in on my ankle. I scream as the orc drags me from my place on the tree to the ground.

"RUN KAT!" Screams Pippin. I bolt off towards anywhere and the orc stays hot on my feet.

He grabs me, and throws me on my back. I slash my sword at it but it blocks and disarms me. I hear the hobbits scream. "I'm gonna stick a maggot hole in your gut!" The orc says. He raises his sword. I notice something behind him. THE FREAKING TREE IS A-FREAKING-LIVE! I scream and the tree steps on the orc conveniently killing him for me.

"Run! Kat, run!" I hear Merry yell. I look up. The tree has both hobbits in one hand and the other hand is reaching me.

"CRUD!" I jump up and bolt. Before I can get three steps the thing grabs me.

Its huge hands almost crush me as it growls, "Little orcs! Burarum!"

"It's talking!" Pippin squeaks, "The tree is talking."

"Tree?" The tree says, almost insulted, "I am no tree! I am an Ent!"

"A tree-herder!" Merry says, "A shepherd of the forest!"

"Treebeard some call me," the tree says.

"Don't talk to it!" I hiss, "You'll encourage it!"

"We're not orcs!" Merry says, ignoring me, "We're hobbits! Halflings! Shire-folk! And she's an elf!"

"Never heard of a hobbit before," Treebeard says, "Sound like orc mischief to me!" He tightens his grip on us and I almost hear the ribs cracking, "They come with fire, they come with axes! Gnawing, biting, braking, hacking, burning! Destroyers and usurpers curse them!"

"You don't get it!" I say, "We're not orcs! I'm an elf! They're hobbits!"

"Enough! The White Wizard will know."

Merry looks at me and whispers, "Saruman."

Rachel's POV

"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night." Legolas breathes. I give Legolas a look of absolute fear. He takes my hand pulls me along. We walk a little ways until Aragorn stops to look at the ground. Then we hear a terrible shrieking sound. Panicking, we all hide behind this really big rock and wait for whatever the terrible sound is to go away. Now there is a rumbling noise and it only gets louder and louder. The noise turns out to be a large mass of horses and riders. Aragorn looks at me and Legolas before he crawls out of his hiding spot.

"Where are you going?" I whisper. He doesn't answer, but keeps going.

"Riders of Rohan!" He yells. "What news from the mark?"

_Has he officially lost it?_ I don't know if these are good guys or bad guys, but I don't want to find out. The riders make a turn around and gallop towards us.

All of us are now out in the open and the riders come so close to us that they encircle us, leaving no space to escape. This, once again, is not good. What's even worse is that they point their really big, really pointy spears at us.

"You know, this is the second time I have had something big and sharp pointed at me." I whisper loud enough so that my friends could hear me, but the riders couldn't. A guy on a white horse comes in front of us and begins to speak. He must be the leader.

"What business does an elf, a man, a girl, and a dwarf have in Riddermark?" Hhe asks. "Speak quickly."

"Give me your name horse-master, and I shall give you mine," Gimli remarks. Now the lead horseman looks peeved and gets off his horse. Gimli's done it now.

"I would cut off your head, Dwarf…If it stood but a little higher from the ground." The guy says.

Well, that obviously doesn't settle very well with Legolas because he pulls out an arrow and aims it at him. "You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas retorts. Now the pointy spears inch closer to our faces.

Aragorn lowers Legolas's bow and I place a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. They aren't going to do anything." _I don't think._

Aragorn tries to explain who we are, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin. This is Legolas of the Woodland Realm. And this is Rachel…"

"Oh, um, daughter of Richard Kestler." I say. The leader makes a confused face.

"She is not from Middle Earth." Aragorn explains "But we are friends of Rohan and of Théoden, your king."

"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe. Not even his own kin." The leader says sadly. He takes off his helmet that he is wearing and the riders around us lower their spears. I finally feel like I can breathe.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands." He continues. "My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that we are banished." He talks about this white wizard who is cunning and a man who is hooded and cloaked. "And everywhere his spies are slipping past our nets." He said as he glared at Legolas.

"We are no spies." Aragorn cuts in. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken three of our friends captive." I certainly hope this guy knows something about them, otherwise this is a waste of our time.

"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."

"Wait, what?" I ask bewildered. _Then where are Kat and the Hobbits?_

"But there were two Hobbits. Did you see two Hobbits?" Gimli asks.

"They would be small, like children." Aragorn adds.

"And there was an Elf girl, too." I say anxiously.

The leader pauses for a moment and looks gravely at us. "We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them." He points to a smoking pile a short distance from where we stand.

"Dead?" Asks Gimli.

The leader nods his head. "I'm sorry." He says.

I feel like someone has hit me in the stomach. I'm having such a hard time comprehending what I've heard. Kat can't be dead. I know she can't be. I drown out any other words that are being said and my companions and the leader become blurry. All that I focus on is the smoke growing to the sky.

"Kat?" I speak to the air. _She has to be there. Maybe she's just hiding. Maybe if I call a little louder she'll hear…_

I start making my way out of the circle, pushing away the horses in front of me. Of course for me being a lady, the riders politely scoot over to make a path out for me.

"Kat!" I say louder.

"Rachel, what is the matter?" Aragorn asks. I don't say anything but I keep walking.

"Rachel! Come back!" Legolas calls. I still keep walking. I think I hear something being said by the leader but I don't listen. I now start running, running as furiously as I can. My sword starts hitting my leg, but I don't notice the pain. The adrenaline coursing through me makes myself feel like I haven't been running all day. I keep going. What I heard can't be true. I will find out what happened to my friends.

I get out of my trance when I hear galloping behind me. _Don't tell me the whole troop is after me!_ But it was just Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli riding on horses towards me. I slow down to a stop (as do they) and we're all breathing very hard. Legolas and Gimli are one horse and Aragorn is on another holding his hand out. He gives me an annoyed look, "Get on!" he says.

"But I have to find Kat!" I reply out of breath.

"You can look for her if you'll get on the horse!" He yells. I take his hand and he hoists me up so that I am sitting behind him on the brown steed. We take off towards the black smoldering piles as fast we can, hoping we are not too late.

**Me: Well, I survived…but I could still die…**

**Rachel: YOU ARE NOT DYING BEFORE LEGOLAS CAN ASK YOU OUT!**

**Me: Well. Then.**


	11. Chapter 11: Author's note version 2

**Rachel**: So, do to the inconvenience of time-consuming educational studies and the irrepressible feeling of a block in writing, me and Kat can no longer continue writing until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience.

**Kat**: Oh for the love of carbs! Small words, Rachel. Small words!

**Rachel**: I'm trying to be sophisticated! Sheesh!

**Legolas**: I didn't think you were doing badly, Rachel.

**Gimli**: Too many words and you put people to sleep. Get on with it!

**Rachel**: Fine! I am too busy with school and Kat has got writers block. We aren't going to be writing for a little while. Sorry. *looking at irritating friends* There! Are you happy!?

**Kat**: Yes. I didn't even doze off.

**Rachel**: Hmph!

**Legolas**: So, will this writer's block last any longer? We really should start moving.

**Rachel**: I'm not sure. Ask Kat.

**Kat**: Well how much longer are your "educational studies" going to take?

*Aragorn walks in*

**Aragorn**: I hear noise and- this again? Another writer's block?

**Rachel**: HA!

**Kat**: Eeeeer. You do your homework and I'll do some brainstorming! Deal?

**Rachel**: Deal

**Kat**: Oh, by the way, we haven't done shout outs yet.

**Aragorn**: What is a shout out?

**Kat**: Here, I will demonstrate, then you can take a turn. First off, thanks to dandapanda, for following and favoriting our story. I love love love reading your reviews! Okay, Rachel, your turn!

**Rachel**: Um, Thanks DORK DOG—

**Kat**: *interrupts* YOU ROCK

**Rachel**: HELLO! TALKING HERE!

**Kat**: Right, sorry.

**Rachel**: Thanks, *ahem* Thank you for reviewing and you're awesome!

**Kat**: Legolas, you wanna take a turn?

**Legolas**: Well, thanks Rosebud1296, for saying you wish for Kat and I to grow old together.

**Kat**: *Punches Elf*

**Rachel**: *laughs* Aragorn, wanna try?

**Aragorn**: My gratitude towards i am a Fire-jay, for your faithful reviews. Kat, what is a Fire-jay?

**Kat**: It's something from the Hunger Games fandom which is really complicated and I will explain on a later day.

**Rachel**: Well, it appears we have come to an end.

**Kat**: Au revoir!


	12. Chapter 12

**Me: First of all, a humongous apology for not updating in like, ever.**

**Rachel: It's all your fault.**

**Me: Thanks bestie. You're so sweet.**

**Rachel: I know.**

**Me: Yeah, so. Updating. Well. I got a job at a Panera Bread. So I only have like, three days off, and I normally sleep on those days. I may not be writing as diligently as I have—**

**Rachel: Or not**

**Me: ANY WAY. I won't be writing as often as I have been. On the plus side (Excuse my fangirling) I BOUGHT TWENTY FIVE DISNEY MOVIES OFF OF EBAY I AM SO EXCITED YOU HAVE NO IDEA I CAN'T EVEN ASDFGHJKL**

**Rachel: Chill the tumblr lingo. Not everyone is on there.**

**Me: Their loss. Anyways, we don't own LotR. Here's an extra long chappie.**

KAT'S POV

The talking tree, or Ent as he prefers, throws us to the ground. I lift my head just a tiny bit and see a white-robed figure standing in front of us. "Yeah, we're doomed," I whisper. If this is the same Saruman who I heard Gandalf telling Aragorn about, the psychotic wizard who's broken all ties with the good guys and is now helping Sauron, this is really not good.

"Good day, young ones." The robed guy stares at us. He sounds weird, like somebody who has no idea how auto tune works and is trying to sound like Arnold Schwarzenegger. "I see you have come far."

"Who are you?" I blurt out.

He smiles, "Do you not recognize me?"

"How can I with that hood thing?"

He removes the white hood and I totally freak out. It's Gandalf, but a little bit different. The previous—dead—Gandalf was old, and seemed tired. He had a scraggly gray beard, and a gray pointed hat. This one seems younger, not as weary, and he's wearing all white, no hat, and a white beard. "Gandalf?" I say softly.

"Yes," said the old man. "Well, that was Gandalf the Gray, Stormcrow, Gandalf Grayhaim, et cetera; I am Gandalf the White."

"Oh my gosh!" I jump up and run to him, and give him a huge flying bear hug.

He laughs and looks at us, "Where is the rest of the Fellowship?"

"We were captured by orcs!" Pippin and Merry said in unison as they to come up and give our old friend a hug. "Kat tricked them into keeping us alive!" Merry explained.

"Oh?" Gandalf turned to me.

"Well," I say, blushing, "It wasn't much. My brother is a psychologist, so he taught me how to lie well."

Gandalf smiles, "Well, we shall hope that your lying skills will come in handy one day. Treebeard, I am leaving these Halflings and this elf in your care. Protect them and keep them safe."

"As you wish," the great tree bowed and held out his hands to us. Pippin, Merry, and I climbed up.

"Kat, where are your weapons?" Gandalf says, "The hobbits," he smiles, "Should not be trusted with sharp objects, but you need some."

"Well, the orcs took all of mine, then I stole this scimitar from a dead orc."

"You should not carry cursed weapons." He took the scimitar from me and pulled some brush from a hollow log. He waved his staff over them, and the scimitar became a gorgeous sword, and the brush became a bow and quiver of arrows. He hands them to me and I strap them on. The handiwork is incredible! The sword is carved in some weird language and when I ask what it is he says it says Astalder, which means Valiant One. Cool.

Treebeard bows again we start off at a slow pace. I have no idea where we're going, so I just kinda ride along. I haven't played my bass in so long so I start moving my fingers as if I was playing Release the Panic.

RACHEL'S POV

Once we arrive to the seething pile, I cannot help but gag at the smell of the burning Orc-flesh. It's a nasty sight, but I'm glad they're dead. I just hope Kat isn't buried in there with them. We get off the horses and look around for any sign of life. We search through the piles of charred body parts, anticipating to not come across our friends in the midst of them. I kneel down and search as best as I can (without touching the darn things) to see if there any traces of them anywhere. I'm so focused in search that when I get up, my face is just an inch away from a Uruk's head skewered on a stick. I let out a small cry and jump back, almost losing my footing. I know if Kat was here she would be laughing at me. I wish she was laughing at me.

Gimli pulls out something sort of shiny and metallic. "It's one of their wee belts," he says quietly. I gasp and take it from him. I look at Legolas with tears in my eyes. He murmurs something in his native language. Aragorn is angry. He turns and kicks a helmet on the ground, screaming in anguish and probably because the kick really hurt. He kneels down, looking defeated. I kneel down too, wrapping my arms around myself.

"We failed them," Gimli sighs. He is right. We looked and looked. But we couldn't save them.

I hear a sigh from Aragorn and I look up to see him studying the ground. "What is it?" I ask.

"A Hobbit lay here," he answers, "And the other, here. And a young elf, here." He runs his hand through the dirt and studies the loose grass. _What is the point of tracking how they died? It's over…_

"They crawled," he continues, now getting up and feeling around the warm ground. I look to see what he is studying and I cannot make heads or tails of what he perceives. "Their hands were bound." He walks a few feet around the carcass pile, "Their bonds were cut." And sure enough, he finds a few pieces of rope on the ground. "They ran over here…They were followed." He walks around, searching for something that the rest of us can't see. "Tracks lead away from the battle…" He runs a short distance until he stops at the edge of some woods. "…Into Fangorn Forest," he finishes. If what he says is true, he is as good a tracker as Prince Humperdinck from the Princess Bride. Maybe even better, since Aragorn's intentions are much better than Prince Humperdinck's were.

It was a dark and untamed looking jungle of trees and weeds and thick brush. A very unwelcoming appeal, I must say.

"What madness drove them in there?" Gimli breathes.

"Why do you say that?" I ask him. "Are there more trolls and orcs that we must worry about?"

"No, but you never can tell with Fangorn forest what is lurking about," Aragorn says. "We must go in, nonetheless." So we all begin walking calmly and cautiously as possible into the questionable forest. When we get deeper inside, I see that Gimli spots a black liquid on a leaf and he wipes his finger on it and brings it to his lips. He quickly spits it out, "Orc blood," he says.

I know one thing to never do, no matter what universe you are in: Never put unidentified substances in your mouth.

"Oh, Gimli…!" I exclaim.

"What is it? What have I done?" he asks innocently.

"Nothing, except, well, how do you know what Orc blood tastes like?"

"Well, there was a time when-"

"This way!" Aragorn calls towards us. We both follow him, along with Legolas, deeper into the forest. He then bends down and inspects the land just like he has been doing. "These are strange tracks," he remarks.

"This forest is very old." Legolas puts in. "Full of memory and anger." We hear a sort of loud creaking noise. "The trees are speaking to each other."

"That's not possible. How do trees talk?"

Gimli is startled by the sounds that he raises his ax high, but Aragorn tells him to put it down.

"They have feelings, my friend," Legolas says, "The elves began it, waking up the trees, teaching them to speak."

"What do trees have to speak of, except the consistency of squirrel droppings?" Gimli muttered.

Then Aragorn and Legolas start speaking in that strange language. Finally, Legolas whispers that a white wizard approaches. Aragorn doesn't want us to let the wizard speak because he might cast a spell on us. We all grab hold of our weapons, ready for a dual with a wizard. I never thought I would ever dual a wizard outside of my computer. What a place this is…

We stand ready, waiting for the precise moment.

"We must be quick." Aragorn says very quietly. Then all of us at the exact same moment whirl around and are confronted with a blinding white light. Legolas lets an arrow loose, but it only crumbles against the white figure giving off the light. Gimli throws his ax. That doesn't do anything either. Very soon, mine and Aragorn's swords become very hot and burn our hand so that we drop them. We all cower back from the overwhelming light.

After a moment or so, the figure begins to talk, "You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits and an Elf, I understand."

"Where are they?!" Aragorn demands

"They passed by here. The day before yesterday, in fact. They met someone they did not expect. Does this comfort you?"

"Who are you?" Aragorn asks. "Show yourself!"

Then, the bright light dims and we see the face of a very familiar friend.

"It cannot be" Aragorn whispers. Indeed it can't. It's Gandalf! Gandalf is alive and dressed in white and his beard is shorter. He's alive!

Legolas and Gimli bow to him, so I respectfully do the same. Although, I'm still not sure if I'm bowing to a ghost or not. And even so, who cares. He can help us! Omigosh this is great! He's alive. Wait a minute…Why is he alive?

"You fell?" Aragorn says dumbfounded.

"Through fire…and water." Replies Gandalf. He goes on and explains that after he vanquished the fire demon, he had been renewed and was given a new life. He also said he wasn't going to leave us until his task was finished. I can't believe he's actually alive! This is fantastic!

He also made it clear that he was no longer called Gandalf the Gray, but Gandalf the White. We asked him, (well, mostly me), if he had seen Kat or the Hobbits run through the woods.

"As I had mentioned, Rachel," He begins, "They passed by here the day before yesterday. The great Ent, Treebeard brought them to me and I told them to keep watch over them until they were needed. They are safe."

Overwhelming joy fills me at this moment. My best friend is not dead. This has to be some miracle! She's alive, she's alive, SHE'S ALIVE!

I feel so much better knowing that I haven't lost my best friend, and Legolas looks as though he is feeling pretty good too. I can tell with his wide smile and the glimmer in his eye.

KAT'S POV

As we ride along, Treebeard does this crossover of singing and speaking of this poetry of the Ents. Being a self-proclaimed music addict, I enjoy it, but I think the hobbits are about ready to split their own skulls.

"_I saw you shine_," continues Treebeard, "_Upon a summer's day. Upon your head a golden thread, the crown you wore and loft_. Such a beautiful verse," Treebeard finished his song.

"Is it much further?" Merry asks.

"Burarum, don't be hasty! You might call it far, but perhaps it is." Suddenly he points towards a mountainside up ahead, "My home. I sleep in the forest at the roots of the mountains. I told Gandalf I would keep you safe and safe is where I'll keep you. I believe you will enjoy this next verse; I composed it myself." He begins another sonnet, something about his lost love. It's kind of sad really but beautiful, and I hope I could be talented enough to put it to music if I ever get home. Home. I start thinking about Rachel, and my family, and other friends. I even weirdly miss Becky, freak that she was. If my mom knew I was missing she would cook an extravagant dinner every night, just in case I came home. My dad would sit on our front porch just waiting for me to arrive. I wonder if they really know I'm gone. My brother, being the criminal psychologist major that he is, would want to know every last detail, and try and figure out if I was lying by taking my pulse and watching how many times I blink. I smile, thinking of his antics. Then my mind wanders to my friends here. I wonder how Frodo is doing. I can remember hearing in Moria, once, when everyone thought I was asleep, Gandalf and Frodo talking about the Ring's power. I hope he won't succumb to it. I smile at the thought of Rachel and Aragorn. My best friend hardly ever gets crushes, but she has this tell (Yes, I've learned this from my brother. I can now read her just by her face…when she's mad, her nose crinkles) but this tell, is slightly less obvious. She always twists her ring to the left if she's with her crush, and to the right when she's not interested. It's been to the left since Moria. Then I think about Legolas. I don't know what to make of him. I mean, he's sweet and all, but I'm worried he's gonna be like any other guy and be a total jerk. I'm just gonna try not thinking about him. Thinking about him makes me too confused.

Treebeard's song ends, then we both realize that it's getting dark and Pip and Merry have fallen asleep. We come to a clearing and he lays them down saying, "Sleep, little Shirelings." Then he turns to me, "As an elf, you won't need much sleep, but try to get some rest. I have business in the forest to attend to. There are many I must call: many who must come. A shadow lies on Fangorn. The withering of all woods is drawing near." I nod and lay down, staring at the starry night sky above us. That last comment kind of freaked me out. The withering of all woods? Does that mean all the Ents will die?

RACHEL'S POV

We now start to make our way out of the forest. I'm not sure exactly what we're doing now, but I have a feeling it has something to do with protecting and fighting and maybe an appearance or two by the Orcs and Uruks.

"One stage of your journey is complete. Another begins." Gandalf begins. "War has come to Rohan. We must ride to Edoras with full speed." Just what I thought.

Once we reach the edge outside of the forest, Gandalf whistles a very loud tune. It is so high pitched that I have a hard time hearing it. Suddenly, a horse comes galloping towards us without a rider or saddle or anything, just by itself. It is truly a magnificent horse. It is all white in color and looks completely healthy and fit. Not to mention, it's fast. Uncommonly fast.

"Ah, Shadowfax. A friend and companion through many dangers."

Gandalf mounted Shadowfax and the rest of us do the same with our own horses. Aragorn pulls himself onto the brown stallion and then he helps me up. As we ride, I notice that I'm clinging very tightly to Aragorn's waist, as if every stride the horse takes is a sudden dive off of a cliff and I'm preparing for the fall. I hadn't realized how secure I felt when he was in control of the horse as we went to the Orc pile because I was so focused on finding Kat, Merry, and Pippin. But I have noticed it now.

My mind is wandering to events that passed before we even started searching for our friends. Letting Frodo go, watching Kat being carried off by crazy murdering Uruks… Boromir's death. All very painful. Mostly, I remember what Aragorn said to me while I was cleaning his wounds in the woods. _I see __you__, Rachel. _It isn't fair, though. He can see who I am, but I can't see him. He is so closed about his feelings, I only saw him really open up when Boromir died. He was stone-cold when Gandalf fell, he never gave in to his emotions during this whole journey. But then it hits me. Someone important to him died before we left. I didn't ask who it was, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot and upset him. _He didn't have time to grieve because he was stuck teaching me to fight…Oh gosh._ That's a lot to take in such a short time. Well, I can only try to make things better for him, not cause trouble and be smart in every situation. _Be smart…Right._

Time flies and we arrive at this village on a hill with a giant wall surrounding it. We all stop and gaze at it.

"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduselde," Gandalf explains, "There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Théoden is now very strong." He looks again at the village and then at us, "Be careful what you say. Do not look for welcome here."

When we ride through the gates, I see lots of people stopping their chores to stare at us as we go by. It's like they have never seen other beings outside their village wall before. Or maybe they're just trying to figure out if we're here to help or make things worse.

As we are walking by Gimli comments, "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard." A girl walks a little ways beside our horse. I look down to her pale stone-cold face and muster a smile towards her. She doesn't smile back.

We reach a large…building. It's not really a castle like you would expect for a king with tall towers and grey stone, but a gigantic house-like building. We stop our horses at the bottom of the stairs leading to the King's home. As we reach the door, we are stopped by a few men dressed in armor. The one leading them spoke, "I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Grayhaim. By order of Grima Wormtongue." _What kind of name is that?_

Gandalf looks at us, gesturing that we must follow orders. As much as it pains me, I unbuckle my belt that holds my knife and sword. I take out the little knife in its sheath that I've had hidden in my sleeve. And then I unlatch the knife that I have hidden under my dress. Aragorn told me to keep it hidden safe, but where it went was my choosing. Gandalf gives me a quizzical look and I just shrug my shoulders. I catch Aragorn smirking. We hand all of the weapons to the men and the leader holds out his hand towards Gandalf. "Your staff," he says.

Gandalf looks saddened by the request, "You would not an old man from his walking stick," he notions. The leader rolls his eyes and turns to the door to lead us in. Gandalf takes Legolas's arm to appear weaker. More eyes greet us as we enter.

KAT'S POV

I feel myself doze off and it's about an hour later that I wake up. I start looking around, and I find a stream. I quickly strip off my outer garments (Can you imagine what would happen if the hobbits caught me nude?) and plunge in for a bath. It is freezing. Like freezing as in liquid nitrogen scald-my-skin-off cold. This is the first bath since Rivendell, and I'm in desperate need. I scrub my oily hair as best as I can and get out as soon as possible. I braid my hair over my shoulder and lay out just as the sun rises for my clothes to dry. When I'm decent, and dressed, I slip back to the hobbits and steal their jackets and cloaks. I find a needle and thread in Merry's pockets, and though I'm no seamstress, I try to mend our clothes as much as possible. I slip back to our "camp" and sit on a rock, watching the sun rise, till the hobbits wake up. Did you know, watching someone sleep gets really boring after a while? It wasn't ten minutes into watching the sun rise that I decided to see how high I could climb different trees. I'm at the top of on when I hear Entish noises. I look down and Pippin is drinking water from a stream and Merry is waking up just at the same time. I slide down from branch to branch and hit the ground right as Merry is getting up. "Hello?" He calls, "Treebeard? Where's he gone?"

"Treebeard said he had some business. We're supposed to stay here," I say. Gosh, I sound like an old mother hen.

"I had the loveliest dream last night," Pippin interrupts, "There was this large barrel, full of pipeweed, and we smoked all of it." I see a glint in Merry's eyes. "And then," Pippin continues, "You were sick." He put his head down on the ground, I'd give anything for a whiff of old toby."

"I'd give anything for a bottle of good old ale," Merry says.

"What I wouldn't do for a heavy metal CD," I say. Like always, when I say something about our world, I got weird looks from the hobbits.

Just then there's an Entish noise. "Did you hear that?" Merry says. Another noise.

"Yeah," I say, "I hear it too."

Just then Pippin burps. It's the same Entish noise from a second ago. "What the heck?" I say.

"You just said something Treeish," Merry says, awestruck.

"No I didn't, I was just stretching," Pippin responds stretching again, taking a swig from the stream.

"You're taller!" Merry exclaimed.

"Than what?" Pippin said.

"Than me!"

"I've always been taller than you!"

"Pippin! Everyone knows, I'm the tall one, you're the short one!"

"Oh, come off it. You're what? 3'6"? At the most?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm pushing 3'7"." He stretched again, "3'8"!" He took another swig.

"Three foot eight," Merry said in wonder. Me, being 5'6", I didn't quite get all the fuss, but hey.

Merry makes a quick grab at the drink and they start chasing each other like there's no tomorrow. I just sit back and laugh. Just then Pippin trips and falls onto a tree with Merry right behind him. Now I'm really busting a gut. Then there's really loud groan and the roots start to move. The hobbits start screaming for me, as they get swallowed into a tree. I scream and run towards them and dig frantically through the leaves. I feel one of their hands and I hear another muffled scream. The hand slips away and the screams stop. I jump up and pace frantically. "TREEBEARD!" I scream. Nothing. "TREEBEARD, ARE YOU THERE? HELP ME!" I drop to my knees. "Help me."

**Me: REVIEW! I was nice, I finally updated!**

**Rachel: AHEM**

**Me: We. We finally updated.**


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